Integration
by GBscientist
Summary: 2007 movieverse Both Autobots and Decepticons adapt to Earth society, some better than others.
1. Chapter 1

Integration

Integration

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

Barricade groaned and transformed out of his alternate mode. He didn't care if the squishies saw him. He was in a concrete drainage ditch on the side of the highway where he had been run off the road by Optimus Prime. Every external panel was dented and wet. In short, Barricade was pissed.

Barricade consoled his infuriated mind with the fact that Lord Megatron would be raising a new army right about now, so Barricade started scanning for sparks to find out where he could participate in the carnage. Barricade found a few scattered sparks in Mission City, but all had Autobot or Neutral readings. The only Decepticon within sensor range was down the road about five miles and very weak.

"**What the pit is going on!?"** Barricade screamed out in Cybertronian. He stomped up the embankment of the drainage ditch, back onto the highway and transformed back into his police interceptor alternate form. It took only a few minutes of weaving through traffic to find the headless body of Bonecrusher beneath the basket weave of the interstate interchange. He transformed and leapt down to the body.

"_WHO'S THERE! I'LL RIP YOU APART!!"_ Bonecrusher transmitted across the comm. spectrum.

"_So, you're still alive,"_ Barricade replied. _"What happened?"_

"_I got beheaded by Prime,"_ Bonecrusher sounded embarrassed.

"_Want your head back?"_

"_Yes. But I'll find it myself. I don't need your help!"_

"_Fine. Have it your way."_ Barricade transformed back into his alt mode and rolled away from Bonecrusher. The headless Decepticon began crawling around on his hands and knees, pawing in the dirt for his head. Barricade found the spectacle amusing for about ten minutes, but then tired of watching Bonecrusher miss his head by mere centimeters every time. _"Took to long. Now sit still,"_ Barricade announced after transforming again, picking up Bonecrusher's head, and knocking the headless body back on its aft.

"_What are you doing!?"_ The irate Constructicon demanded.

"_We're exposed and you're in no shape to do anything but get slagged. I'm doing a field repair to at least keep your head physically attached so your autorepair can get to work. Got a problem with that?"_

"_I could have found it myself,"_ Bonecrusher pouted.

"_Uh huh,"_ Barricade sarcastically agreed while welding the structural supports of Bonecrusher's neck back together. _"There. Now let's get the pit out of here. I'll lead."_ Bonecrusher muttered something about haughty minicons taking over, but made no move to contest the decision as both Decepticons transformed and sped away from the scene of battle just ahead of the US Army salvage team sent to collect their corpses.

* * *

Starscream transformed and touched down on the moon. He was glad Megatron was dead, but the intrusion of the humans into the private war between Decepticons and Autobots offended him. The United States of America would pay for interfering with the affairs of the Cybertronian race. As Starscream's first act of vengeance, he ripped out the flag planted by the astronauts of Apollo 11 and shredded it. Then he used the remains of the Lunar Excursion Module's landing stage as a chair.

Now comfortably seated, Starscream pondered how best to enact his revenge. Earth was filled with factions. So many factions existed, in fact, that it made the Decepticon - Autobot conflict look simple. 'Nations' that were supposedly allied had been enemies in the past. For instance, in Europe, Germany was allied with France and the Netherlands, nations that it had crushed and conquered 60 years before, any eyeblink to a Cybertronian. Starscream had little doubt that the humans' shifting loyalties could be played to his advantage. Perhaps he could get some of the squishies to actively assist him, as the Americans did for the Autobots at Mission City.

Starscream needed more information before he could fully enact his plan. He leapt off the lunar surface and flew to a nearby television broadcast satellite. Jacking into the primitive communication relay was child's play, but deciphering the data flow was difficult. Most of the channels that flowed through the satellite were useless drivel, although Starscream did stop briefly to examine a humorous cartoon called 'Pinky and the Brain'. Finally, Starscream found the 24 hour news networks. Ah, the buffet of strife and hatred to be exploited! Now he just needed to find a country suitably powerful and suspicious of the United States to manipulate. The choice was obvious.

Starscream disconnected from the satellite and transformed into his F-22 alternate mode before diving back into the atmosphere undetected. Approaching the target country was so easy; so much unmonitored airspace. The Decepticon landed in a sparsely populated farming region after transforming just above the ground. He hacked into the power and telephone lines to resupply with energy before sending a call to assemble across the internet and the heavens.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

The destruction of the Allspark was a crushing blow to the Autobots, but in the grand scheme of things, it was also a fascinating phenomenon. When Sam pushed the cube into Megatron's chest, most of the Allspark's energy was converted directly into heat and radiant energy, which destroyed the spark and most of the critical components of the Decepticon warlord. A significant amount of energy was unaccounted for by conventional human science and was composed of the life-giving Allspark radiation that created new Cybertronians. Enough Allspark radiation had been emitted to create many new sparks, but tracking them down was proving a small problem.

"_I'm bored with rumbling around Mission City,"_ Ironhide commented testily as he and Ratchet patrolled Mission City looking for the wayward sparklings.

"_There can't be that many more. We already have the Mountain Dew vending machine, the X-box, and the tow truck. The desert patrol vehicle is under surveillance but hasn't awakened yet, so we just need to find that Escalade,"_ Ratchet said to calm his friend. _"How hard can it be?"_ Ratchet didn't actually hold out a lot of hope, but telling Ironhide that was a recipe for destruction, so he kept his observations to himself. There was definitely another spark close by, but getting a fix on it was impossible. After several hours of nebulous readings, the Autobots departed from Mission City and headed back to Tranquility, several hundred miles away.

* * *

"_Stop here,"_ Barricade ordered.

"_Why?"_ Bonecrusher demanded in his usual impolite tone.

"_Are your scanners back up to speed yet?"_

"_Yes,"_ By which Bonecrusher meant they were just barely functional, but he wasn't going to admit weakness to Barricade.

"_Then you can see we're at a construction company. Go find a civilian vehicle and scan it for an alt form."_

"_I refuse to use a weak piece of civilian squishy garbage as my alternate!"_

"_You stick out like a glitched thumb. Do you want to be spotted and fragged by a bunch of upgunned insects, or would you rather survive long enough to pay Optimus back for beheading you?"_ Put in those terms, Bonecrusher saw little to disagree with, so he scanned a wheeled telescoping boom excavator and converted his alternate form. The two Decepticons returned to the roads to keep moving away from Mission City. It was about that time that Barricade noticed that they were being followed.

* * *

Optimus Prime rolled to a halt and transformed to survey his surroundings. The base was going to need a lot of work to be habitable in even the most meager sense of the word. He hadn't expected the US military to vacate an operational base for the Autobots, but he was hoping for more than he got.

Camp Furman was a Cold War-era Army base that had been shut down in the first round of consolidation and cutbacks in the 1990s. It was easy to see why. The barracks facilities and hangars were of 1950s vintage and had not been upgraded since then. The base had been utterly neglected since it was shut down and several buildings were on the verge of collapse. The others were already collapsed.

The good points of the base were that it was just outside of Tranquility, but far enough out in the desert that no visitors or nosy neighbors were anticipated.

Optimus sighed and began cataloguing what was going to be needed to make the place operational. First, electrical and internet connections were a must. Second, some wells were going to be needed for the humans' water requirements. Third, some prefab Quonset hangars and barracks were needed to house the Autobots and humans. Anything else was 'gravy', to use the human term.

* * *

Author's Note:

Bonecrusher's new alternate mode is a Probesco Gradall wheeled telescopic boom excavator.

I will make it a habit to post the exact manufacturer and model of all alternate modes so that you can all share the carnage in my head.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

Sam and Mikaela were at the lookout, at it again. And by 'at it', I mean making out furiously on Bumblebee's hood. The yellow Autobot sighed silently and wondered when the humans would find some other surface to use for their interface needs. When they made out in the front seat it didn't bother Bumblebee. When they made out in the back seat it didn't bother Bumblebee. But when Sam and Mikaela got into each other on Bumblee's hood, it really bothered him. Bumblebee was relatively young for an Autobot and understood the urge to express affection in a public display, but the level of interaction between Sam and Mikaela really demanded more privacy.

For instance, the time they made out on his hood while all the others were standing around made him feel like he would offline from embarrassment. Fortunately, salvation was just around the corner.

"_Bumblebee,"_ Optimus Prime's voice filled the internal communication system. _"I want you to bring the youngsters to the base tomorrow. We need to discuss their housing requirements."_

"_I do not believe that either of them intends to move onto the base with us, Optimus,"_ Bumblebee replied.

"_I understand that. Perhaps I should rephrase. I would appreciate their assistance with designing the human recreational section and overnight guest quarters. I have no doubt that they will be making use of those facilities.í"_

"_Affirmative. I will inform them of the plans,"_ Bumblebee beeped softly to get the teens' attention. No luck. He turned off the radio. Nothing. He shook around on his suspension a little. They were completely oblivious. Finally, in exasperation, Bumblebee popped the hood and sent the teens sprawling to opposite sides of him.

"What the hell, Bumblebee?" Sam demanded as he got off the got off the ground and rubbed his now bruised shoulder.

"Yeah, what gives?" Mikaela agreed.

"You were unresponsive to my attempts to get your attention. Optimus just informed me that he wants you on base tomorrow morning to help decorate the recreational area and overnight guest quarters," Bumblebee explained. "We need to get an early start, so you two need to get home and recharge."

"It's Friday night, Bumblebee. No teenager goes to bed this early on a Friday night," Sam countered.

"You are not just any teenager anymore, Sam. You have responsibilities that require you to make more responsible use of your weekend than your peers."

"He's got you there," Mikaela stated. Sam glared at her and Bumblebee's doors popped open. Sam knew when he was beat and got in. The drive to drop off Mikaela was uneventful and Bumblebee allowed them a few more minutes of intimacy before jostling to remind them of the time. Mikaela got out and waved from the porch as she entered her house.

"You know, you can be kind of prick sometimes," Sam told his car.

"It's for your own good."

"Now you sound like Mom." The drive back to Sam's house was equally uneventful and Ron greeted Sam as he entered the house.

"Wow! Two hours before curfew on a Friday. You have a fight with Mikaela or something?" Ron asked.

"Nope. Just got a busy day tomorrow," Sam replied.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it honey," Sam's mother Judy added. "These kind of little arguments blow over in no time."

"Mom, there was no argument. Mikaela and I are going to look at the old Army base for a, uh, school assignment tomorrow."

"What kind of assignment?" Ron inquired.

"History. You remember that peace dividend they talked about in the 90s after the USSR fell apart?" Sam began to improvise based on his history class. "Well my genius teacher thought that it would be good for us to see what a closed military base looks like to get an idea about military budget cutbacks."

"Sounds like fun," Judy said sarcastically.

"Yeah. Loads," Sam began up the stairs to his room. "G'night."

* * *

Ironhide picked Captain William Lennox up from Camp Furman after his pointless search of Mission City for the lost sparklings. Lennox had just finished changing into his dress uniform to surprise his wife Sarah when he arrived. Sarah had been moved from base married couples housing at Will's previous base to a rental house on the edge of Tranquility. The pair of warriors arrived just as the sun was fading.

"Honey, I'm home!" Will called out as he stepped out of Ironhide's cabin. Will slung his kitbag over his shoulder and began to walk toward the house. He dropped the bag when Sarah intercepted him half-way to the house.

"Oh, I missed you!" She said as they wrapped each other in a hug. "We were so worried when the news said your base in Qatar was destroyed. What the hell happened?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Will replied.

"Is it that classified?"

"Yup. Now where's my little girl? I have snuggles to catch up on."

* * *

"_You keep going, Bonecrusher. I'm going to double back and pick off our tail,"_ Barricade informed the other Decepticon.

"_Let me do it. I'll smash the scum flat,"_ Bonecrusher's boom arm twitched as he made the offer.

"_You're no good at being discrete. You'll make a huge scene and the Autobots will be on us like rust on iron ore. We do this my way,"_ Barricade ordered flatly. Bonecrusher continued up the interstate while Barricade concealed his spark signature and pulled off at the next interchange. The cruiser pulled into a Dunk'n Donuts parking lot to wait for the tailing Autobot to pass because he heard that police officers liked donuts. He made a resolution to try one someday before cutting off several humans as he screamed back into traffic.

Identifying the tail was no problem at all. The black vehicle had no fieldcraft and made no attempt to hide its intent. Even Ironhide had more sense than that. Barricade got up alongside the SUV and ran it into a ditch before transforming and activating his gyroflails.

"**Show yourself, Autobot scum!"** Barricade demanded. The SUV transformed and threw itself at Barricade in a flurry of flying metal. Barricade found himself squashed with the Autobot's arms wrapped around him, but he wasn't being crushed. He was puzzled by this.

Then two details struck him. First, the spark signature was not Autobot but Neutral. There had been no neutral Cybertronians for millennia, as everyone eventually picked a side or died. Second, the mech wrapped around Barricade seemed to be whimpering.

"**State your designation!"**

"**None specified. What is yours?"**

"**I am Barricade. Why have you been following me?"** To emphasize the question, Barricade placed his claws at the neck of the other mech, who stood up and backed away from Barricade.

"**You were the only ones like me around. The squishies took the others."**

"**What others?"**

"**When the Allspark created me, two others were also created. I awoke to find two slimy, squishy, noisy organics inside of me and they screamed and screamed when I flexed for the first time."**

"**What happened to the others?!"** Barricade demanded.

"**When I used my steering input device as a manipulator to silence one of the organics, they fled, and others came. They hit the two created with me with extreme cold and they locked up. I fled. The followed me and tried to lock me up with the cold, but I was too fast. Then they fired hot darts at me that hit me in the back and hurt so much"** The mystery mech explained.

"**There, there. It's okay."** Barricade began to console the sparkling as he came to the conclusion that the situation could be played to his advantage.

"**You and the other were the first I saw that were like me, so I followed you. Please don't send me away. I don't want to be taken by the squishies!"**

"**Come along, youngling. You are safe with me. I don't like squishies either, you know."**

"**Really?"**

"**Yes. I will protect you and teach you how to defend yourself from the bad mechs and squishies."**

"**Thank you."**

"**Would you like a designation?"**

"**Yes, please."**

"**You will be called Stockade. Now follow me. We must find Bonecrusher before he does something stupid."** Barricade transformed back into his Saleen police interceptor mode and Stockade transformed into his Escalade alternate mode, the one he was 'born' with. They lurched out of the ditch and back onto the Interstate to find Bonecrusher.


	4. Chapter 4

Apologies for the wait. I had exams and a worrisome dentist appointment.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

It was half-past 7. As promised, Bumblebee was not responsive to Sam's demands for 5 more minutes. The loud sound of a rooster crowing battered Sam's eardrums every time he so much as sat down.

"Alright, alright!" He shouted as he dove into Bumblebee's driver's seat with a granola bar in hand. "Jeez. You sure Optimus needs our help that much."

"Yes," Bumblebee stated flatly.

"Oh. Um. Why?"

"You saw the flames on Optimus' alternate form?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you want the human areas to have that for a paint scheme?"

"Step on it man! No time to lose!" At Sam's request Bumblebee made record time to Mikaela's house. She looked radiant, as always. "How did you have time to do your hair?"

"Alarm clock much?" Mikaela replied dryly. Sam clamped his mouth shut and kept his eyes fixedly on the road until they got out of town. "Are you going to be this grumpy all day? 'Cause I'm sure we can find some job for you to do with Ironhide if you keep it up."

"I'm just not a morning person. I like afternoon, evening, midnight, that kind of time. Human beings between the age of 12 and 21 should not be awake before noon on Saturdays," Sam rambled. Before they knew it they were at the base. "Wow. Scenic."

"Not my first choice of words," Ratchet said as he pulled up next to them. "At least the chance of catching any harmful pathogens from the ambient atmosphere will be minimal."

"I'll have to get rid of rodents, I'm sure. And reptiles," Ironhide groused as he pulled up on the other side of Bumblebee.

"Hey, kids," Will called from Ironhide's cab. "Looking forward to picking out colour schemes?" He joked.

"Yup. I brought a list of essentials that we'll need to include in the design," Mikaela said as she pulled the list from her purse and showed it to Will. Sam hid his face in his hand.

"Good job. You put a coffee maker and a beer fridge on that list?"

"I have a fridge, but I didn't think we needed one specifically for beer."

"We do."

"Okay, it's now on the list," Mikaela scribbled the addition on with a pen that mysteriously appeared from the purse.

"How do you fit all that stuff in there?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Carefully," Mikaela kissed him on the nose and got out of Bumblebee. Will and Sam followed suit. They waited around for about half an hour discussing basic design principles before Optimus Prime arrived towing a flatbed trailer full of curved corrugated steel plates. He unhitched, transformed and approached the group.

"Good morning," Optimus greeted everyone as the other Autobots transformed to their primary forms. Everyone returned his greeting. "The Quonset shelters need to be set up to provide somewhere for us to stay under cover. I am going into town now to pick up the prefabricated structure for you humans to use until the base is completed. Will, would you please come with me to sign the forms?"

"Sure thing, Optimus,"

"Thank you. Ironhide, Ratchet, demolish the old hangar and use the foundation for the new shelter. Sam, Mikaela, please assist Bumblebee in selecting a site for the prefab," All nodded in assent. Optimus transformed back into his truck mode and opened the door for Will, who got in and the pair drove away. The two teams split up and set about their work. When Optimus returned with another trailer carrying a building split into two parts, Sam was unimpressed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Isn't that a school portable?" He asked after running over to the transforming leader.

"It is the best we could acquire on such short notice. Over the next few weeks we will be supplied with building materials by the military to replace the dilapidated structures on the base. For now, this will have to be the sleeping quarters for you. Sam sighed and shrugged. By the end of the day the Autobots had the new hangar in place and the portable put together. They even had a rough plan for the new base done.

"Can we go home now?" Sam whined as he slumped down on Bumblebee's foot.

"Yes, you may, Sam. Thank you for your assistance. Thank you for the list, Mikaela, it was very helpful," Optimus said. Bumblebee shook Sam off and transformed into his alternate mode.

"Your welcome, Optimus. See you later," Mikaela waved cheerily as she got into Bumblebee. Sam flopped into the driver's seat and glared at her.

"How can you be so cheerful? I'm dead on my feet."

"I'm tired too, Sam, but that doesn't mean that I can't be polite," Mikaela snapped as she turned on him. The exhaustion showed in her eyes as it had not before. Bumblebee prevented further argument by opening the windows and refusing to shut them as he drove back into town. The sunset was beautiful.

* * *

He woke up with a splitting headache. His optics were getting two completely different images of the night sky and it made him dizzy. And he was moving.

"**Where is Frenzy?"** the little Decepticon demanded to no one in particular before sitting up. His left optics still showed the speeding night sky, but his right clearly showed that he was sitting on top of a pile of Decepticon scrap, riding in the back of a dump truck.

"**Ssstupid insects! Cccan't even put cccranial unit back together for transport!"** He got unsteadily to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. They were on an almost empty stretch of road, surrounded by forest. The only other vehicles were carrying other Decepticon scrap and a military escort. Frenzy then noticed where the locator for the left half of his head was coming from. **"Ssssslag!!"** The other half of his head was on the truck behind him.

Frenzy made a running leap and landed smack on the windshield of the truck. The driver swerved in terror, but Frenzy merely gave him the finger before flipping up onto the cab and then into the load bed. He was shocked to find the cored body of Megatron. Getting over his fright, Frenzy began to dig through the scrap in search of his missing half-head. In his frustration he began to toss the parts that were not what he wanted off the truck. It was not until his head was rolling down the embankment that Frenzy realized he had tossed it away and flung himself off the truck to get it.

Frenzy screamed in terror as he bounced down the embankment and landed in a muddy ditch. He spent several minutes swearing while he trudged back to his head and retrieved it. Now he just had to find a way to put it back on. Oh, and find Barricade.

* * *

The President of Russia opened his e-mail inbox to see if anything interesting had come up. He really wanted some new dirt on the President of the Ukraine, but none was forthcoming. What he did find was a message marked 'urgent' with some shocking and frightening contents.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

Frenzy trudged through the forest along the side of the road with the left side of his head tucked beneath his left arm. He quietly mumbled a long string of cybertronian curses to himself as he searched for some way to reattach his missing component. Finally, he came upon a gas station.

Frenzy climbed up into a tree and set his severed appendage on a limb overlooking the store so that he could use the disembodied optics as a look-out. It was distracting, but it was effective. He jumped out of the tree and darted toward the gas station. His first stop was to scuttle beneath an old pickup truck parked at the pumps. Then he slid behind one of the pumps and peeked around it. When nobody was looking, Frenzy sprinted to the door and jumped up inside the overhanging awning. Then, when the pickup's driver finished paying for his gas, Frenzy swung through the briefly open door and into the store.

Now things were simple. The clerk was a fat, grey-haired woman in her 50s who was more interested in reading her gossip magazine than minding the slow-paced business of the gas-station's convenience store. This gave Frenzy time to peruse the aisles at a leisurely pace. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to meander around, looking at everything and cataloguing their properties. Finally, he found the small selection of handyman supplies. He grabbed some Krazy Glue and some duct tape.

Frenzy made his way to the end of the aisle closest to the door. The shelves gave him cover from the old clerk, but the last three meters was exposed. Frenzy crouched at the end of the shelves and peeked around. When the clerk seemed thoroughly engrossed in the latest celebrity escapades, he sprinted to the door and ran from the store.

"Hey! Get back here you thieving punk kid!" the clerk shouted without rising from her swivel chair. Frenzy was unfazed. He swung into the trees and climbed to the branch where he hid his head.

"**Sssstupid packaging. Why so much plastic just to protect ggglue?!"** Frenzy chattered as he opened the package. He applied a liberal line of Krazy Glue to the missing half of his head and then slapped it back in place. Unfortunately, his hand got some glue on it and stayed stuck to his face. **"Aahhgg! Sssstupid glue. Gggget off Fffrenzy's hand!"** It took several minutes of tugging for Frenzy to remove his hand from his face. The effort knocked him and his supplied out of the tree with a scream. Frenzy looked up and cursed the tree before wrapping his head in a sloppy layer of duct tape, but made sure not to obscure his optics. Finally, he broke a sturdy branch out of the tree and affixed his glue and duct tape to it with more duct tape before setting off down the road like a little metallic hobo.

* * *

"_Where are we going, anyway?"_ Bonecrusher demanded after a day of driving.

"_North. The petty boundaries these squishies draw prevent them from fully sharing information. Once we get above the 49__th__ parallel, they won't be expecting us,"_ Barricade replied.

"_So this 49__th__ parallel is a political boundary. Is the faction to the north at war with this one?"_

"_No. They are allies."_

"_Don't you think they'll share information with their allies, you fragging moron?!"_ Bonecrusher raged.

"_Nope. These 'Americans' are notoriously slow to share information. Even with their subjects and allies,"_ Barricade replied calmly. Stockade perked up and added to the conversation.

"_If these squishies are Americans, what are the northern squishies called?"_ The question took Barricade by surprise and forced him to check the internet for the answer.

"_Canadians. Really, these insects have far less impressive names for themselves than we do. It will be doing the universe a favour to wipe their pitiful language from existence,"_ As Barricade was ranting, something else caught his attention. A small fragment of code embedded inside a reference website. The message was simple and caused Barricade to come to a screeching halt. Stockade and Bonecrusher drove several cars off the interstate as they swerved to avoid him. _"Change of plans. We're heading east."_

"_Why?!"_ Bonecrusher demanded. He didn't like changes of plan.

"_Frenzy's not dead and I don't want to be the one to take the blame for leaving him behind."_

* * *

"This is shit man. Plain shit," Epps complained as he set up his cot in the portable. "Can't even be bothered with a proper barracks."

"Can it, Epps," O'Malley replied before beginning to mutter. "Air Force pukes think they need a 'proper barracks' all the time. Heh."

"Sorry, man, it's just that I was raised in civilization. You know, running water and stuff. Oops. Forgot they didn't have that in Chicago." Epps replied. Both men settled in with their backs to each other fell asleep in comradely competitive silence.

* * *

Another e-mail. How were they getting through the filters and firewalls? It was not small cause for concern, the President of Russia mused. He had forwarded the first and second to his security staff for analysis after reading them. The claims within were fanciful, to say the least. The President would get this hacker a writing contract after his prison term was over.

The Americans professed that the communication blackout last week was due to a rogue and previously undetected solar flair. The Mission City attack was blamed on anarchist anti-centralized-government terrorists who took advantage of the blackout. This hacker claimed that the blackout and attack were both the doing of alien robots. He had even provided some grainy photographs from low altitude to support his claim.

This third e-mail took the cake, though. The hacker was now claiming to have the President's personal schedule and would be at the dacha next time the President went on vacation. The President forwarded the e-mail to his security chief with an urgent tag. No crackpot pranksters would be disrupting his holidays.

* * *

Author's Note: I don't own Krazy Glue.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

Lennox and Ironhide arrived at the base early in the morning with a load of supplies. Lennox dropped out of Ironhide's cab and walked up to the portable, where he opened the door and stuck his head inside.

"Rise and shine, people. I've got stuff for you to unload," Lennox called out to Epps and O'Malley. The two grumbling soldiers finished off their breakfast MREs and joined will outside. "Epps, you take this and O'Malley, you put the other stuff around back of the portable." Lennox handed a large box to Epps from the truck bed.

"What's this?" Epps asked before reading the packaging. "I love you, man." The box contained an air conditioner. The rest of the gear was a portable generator and two drums of gasoline.

"This ought to be enough to get us operational until the power lines are hooked up again," Lennox said when all was installed. "Too bad we don't have any internet."

* * *

No one paid much attention to the police cruiser leading the excavator and ominous black SUV across the country at high speed. The motorists that made way for the convoy assumed it to be some sort of Homeland Security maneuver.

* * *

The President of Russia strolled around the grounds of his dacha. Security had swept the grounds and assured him of the complete security of the estate. But it wasn't the ground that needed to be secured.

Starscream landed silently and unseen less than a kilometer from the dacha and began to sneak through the forest towards it in a crouch. Once he was close enough to pick out the President's thermal image, he stopped and activated his hologram in the trees just beyond the man's line of sight.

"Mr. President," Starscream addressed through his hologram. The President of Russia jumped and spun in his direction while pulling his pistol. The President's time in the KGB had taught him never to place his safety completely in the hands of others. Starscream raised his hands in surrender. "I only want to talk."

"Then you can talk to the FSB interrogators and tell them how you got in here," the President growled.

"They wouldn't believe me. You saw the pictures I sent you?"

"Fabrications. Photoshop and CorelDraw can create such images with little problem."

"That is why I came in person. You would never believe without seeing for yourself. My tale is true. The Americans have allied with a species of robots from another planet. The robots are rebels and fanatics that tried to exterminate all life on the planet rather than letting the legal government retain control."

"And how do you know all this?"

"Because I am one of them."

"Please, tell me another one," the President laughed.

"I am one of the few surviving members of the duly appointed military of the planet Cybertron. The Americans and their allies murdered our head of state at Mission City after holding him in a frozen hell for over a hundred years. We thought our leader and the artifact that gave us life both lost, but as soon as we were in a position to save them both, the Autobots used the artifact to kill our leader."

"Autobots?"

"The rebels."

"Of course."

"With great sadness I have taken up the mantle of leadership, but now my planet is, for all intents and purposes, dead. I request asylum for my people among the citizens of Russia, and when the time is right, perhaps justice."

"Forgive me, but you don't look much like a giant alien robot." In reply Starscream's hologram walked through a tree. The President's jaw dropped.

"This is merely a hologram used for first contact situations. If you will step through these bushes you will see my true form." The hologram disappeared. The President, now scared for his life, stepped through the indicated foliage and promptly stumbled in shock. From his now-seated position, the President of Russia looked up, and up, and up to meet the face of the alien automaton before him.

The President stood, dusted himself off, and recovered his dignity while Starscream regarded him. Then the human began to smirk as the opportunities opened by having a giant robot in his debt came to his mind.

"What do you call yourself, tovarisch?" he asked.

"I am called Starscream," the robot replied in a voice that sounded like metal plates rubbing against each other.

"Welcome to the Russian Federation, Starscream. Your request for sanctuary is granted."

* * *

I don't own Photoshop or CorelDraw.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

Lennox, Epps, and O'Malley were awoken the second morning of their stay at Camp Furman by a guest far less polite than Lennox had been the first morning.

"Good morning campers!" A singularly grating and obnoxious voice chimed over a bullhorn.

"Oh no, you gotta be kidding me," Epps groaned as he rolled off his cot and put on pants over his boxer shorts.

"Nope, no kidding here," O'Malley said dejectedly as he looked out the window. "It's him." That was when the individual in question burst through the door of the portable.

"Hi, kids. Miss me?" Seymour Simmons asked.

"Simmons, what the hell are you doing here, and what the hell are you doing in an Army uniform?" Lennox asked.

"Now, now, Captain, it's not nice to demand answers from your superiors," Simmons said as he dropped his cap and sunglasses on a table and pointed to the Major's insignia on his shoulder. "But since I'm in a good mood, I'll tell you.

"Sector 7 has been disbanded," Simmons let that sink in for a moment. "Our assets have been spread among other agencies in the government. I got assigned to Army Intelligence and they gave me my very own unit: you guys and my old Sector 7 security personnel."

"Where's Banachek?" Epps asked. He really would rather have been under the command of the not insane S7 officer.

"DARPA," Simmons replied curtly before scanning the room. "So, where'd you guys put the coffee machine?"

"So why'd you decide to drop in on us today, Major?" Lennox asked.

"To set up security," Simmons said as he leaned against the table that held his hat and glasses. "The Secretaries of Defence and State are arriving this afternoon to formalize relations with the Autobot government, such as it is. They're hoping that Optimus Prime is sufficiently high in their chain of command to be able to sign a treaty."

* * *

Sam's cell phone rang just as he was about to enter his math class. He leaned against the wall next to the door and answered.

"Hello?"

"Samual Witwicky?" A woman asked on the other end of the line.

"Yeah,"

"Please hold for the Secretary of Defence," The woman said and the line went momentarily dead. Sam's mouth went completely dry and he darted out towards the parking lot to get better reception.

"Sam, this is Secretary of Defence Keller. How are you doing, son?"

"Um, fine, thanks." Sam stammered.

"Good to hear. Now, I've got a few questions about protocol for your Camero friend, could you ask them for me?" Keller asked.

"I can answer you questions directly, Secretary Keller," Bumblebee's scratchy voice intruded into the conversation.

"Bumblebee, how are you talking on my cell phone?" Sam blurted.

"The cellular communication network is a lot like the Cybertronian internal communication system, but a lot more simple," Bumblebee said. "I've been monitoring all of your cell phone conversations since we met."

"All my phone conversations. Even the ones with Mikaela?" Sam squeaked.

"Yes. And I'm rather confused about the meaning of the term…"

"Can we talk about this later?" Sam cut Bumblebee off.

"Thank you, Sam. Um, Mr. Bumblebee, what's the proper title to use with Optimus Prime. For the President, when we address him, we call him Mr. President. So, would we say Mr. Optimus or Mr. Prime?" Keller asked.

"Neither. Cybertronians do not use the system of ranking honourifics that humans do. When we meet a new individual, we transmit a brief summary of our accomplishments and experience, which immediately establishes our place in the hierarchy. After that, only a name is required."

"How long is 'brief' in this case?" Keller asked.

"Usually equivalent to about 250 megabytes of text. It's not considered polite to go over 500." Bumblebee replied, which left the humans flabbergasted. "Optimus Prime and Megatron were the exceptions, though. When Optimus accepted the position of Prime he changed his name to reflect it. Before the war, Megatron held the title of Lord High Protector as head of our military."

"So Optimus Prime's name is Optimus and his title is Prime?" Keller asked.

"Yes."

"And he has sufficient rank in your government to sign a treaty?"

"He is the Prime." Bumblebee stated as firmly as if he was saying something as simple as 'water is wet'.

"I don't understand what that means." Keller replied.

"Prime originally meant that Optimus lead all non-combat Cybertronians, but since the war, all of us have had to engage in combat, so Prime now means that he is the supreme commander of all Autobots."

"So, he's your head of state, then?" Sam asked helpfully.

"Yes."

"This is going to require a little change in plans, then. Thank you for your time, Bumblebee," Keller said.

"You're welcome, Mr. Secretary. Any time," Bumblebee replied.

"Oh, one more question. Since you don't use titles, how can you tell males from females?" Keller asked.

"We have no females." Bumblebee said in a rather final tone.

"Oh. Of course. Sorry for asking." Keller backpedaled before hanging up. Sam got into Bumblebee and locked the doors.

"OK, since I'm way too late to go to math class now, I might as well tell you this now," Sam said in a parental way. "It's rude to listen in on my phone conversations. We call it eavesdropping. Please don't do it any more."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

"**Ttttook you long enough!"** Frenzy swore after entering Barricade's cabin.

"**Shut up, parasite,**"Barricade replied while speeding down the road. The little energon-sucker was the biggest imposition of Barricade's existence, even if he was a useful tool.

"**Mmmmmessage from Starscream**,"Frenzy chattered after accessing the internet through Barricade. **"Wwwants us to report to Rrrrussia!"**

"**He's out of his slagging mind. Did he leave a way to contact him?"** Barricade needed to report their new addition. Frenzy patched him into MSN Messenger and added Starscream as a 'friend'.

"_What do you want?"_ Starscream snarled across the encrypted MSN Messenger line.

"_I have Bonecrusher, Frenzy, and a new sparkling named Stockade that was created by the AllSpark,"_ Barricade reported. _"How exactly are we supposed to get to Russia?"_

"_Change of plans, Barricade. You and this 'Stockade' are to remain in America and continue surveillance on the Autobots. Send Frenzy along with Bonecrusher to me. They will come north through Canada to Alaska and then take a ship across the Bering Sea. I will meet them in Siberia,"_ Starscream ordered.

"_Understood,"_ Barricade said simply before ending the conversation. **"Well, parasite, it looks like I'm to be finally rid of you. Starscream want you to ride with Bonecrusher to Russia."**

"**Nnnoooo! I hatatate stupid Bonecrusher!"** Frenzy screamed while beating Barricade's seats.

"_I don't like you either, pest,"_ Bonecrusher added across the comms. The Decepticon convoy found a clearing and made the exchange. Barricade had to transform and bodily stuff Frenzy into Bonecrusher's cab to get rid of the miniature Decepticon. The two teams parted ways, with Bonecrusher and Frenzy headed north-west and Barricade and Stockade headed south -west.

* * *

Sam wasn't really surprised when he got another call from a high-ranked government official that afternoon.

"Son, we've decided to let your parents in on the situation with the Autobots," Tom Banachek informed Sam. "And the best time to do it is this afternoon, so if you could get them out to Camp Furman by 4pm local time, they'll have some pretty auspicious company to be introduced beside."

"Um, sure," Sam agreed.

"Good." The line went dead. Sam idly wondered if there was going to be a dress code, but decided that no-one would be dumb enough to go out to a military base in the desert in a full suit.

Ron and Judy found the whole situation a little disturbing. For instance, why did Sam need to bring along his Camero (the origin of which they found dubious at best) when everyone could have ridden in the minivan? Of course, impressing Mikaela with sitting in the second row captain's seats would have been impossible, but not driving should have had other benefits. They wrote it off as teenage pride. What was even more odd was that Sam insisted that this family outing take place at the deserted military base, which, when they arrived, was anything but deserted.

"Please park over there and step out of the vehicle," a gate guard requested when they arrive. Ron complied, but was becoming rapidly irritated, which was his normal state of being. A relatively young Army captain in a dress uniform approached them with a metal detector wand and a plastic box, which he placed on the hood of the van.

"Mr. and Mrs. Witwicky, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Will Lennox," the officer said, offering his hand to Ron. "I'm really sorry about this, but I need you to empty your pockets of any metal items into this box so I can check for weapons."

"What is this, some sort of secret agent convention? This is the second time in the last two weeks my life has been disrupted by the government, and I'm getting sick of it," Ron complained while emptying his pockets and being swept with the metal detector.

"Oh, be quiet, Ron. Capt. Lennox has been nothing but polite. Not like that Simmons fellow," Judy replied as she too was checked. She thought she heard Lennox cough or something at her mention of Simmons.

"Ok, you're clean," Lennox informed the Witwickys before heading over to Sam and Mikaela to repeat the process. The teens had far fewer complaints and the elder Witwickys became even more suspicious of the situation. "Follow me, folks, we've got a cool place for you to sit while we wait for the real show to begin." Lennox escorted them to the portable and locked them in.

"Sam, what the heck is going on here?" Ron demanded while turning to face his son.

"Ok, um. Why don't you take a seat, and I'll explain the whole thing," Sam began. His parents agreed and sat down on the folding chairs. "Well, this whole thing pretty much started with Great-Great-Grandpa Archibald. See that Ice Man thing he found in the Arctic, well it was a giant evil robot that was frozen solid." Ron rolled his eyes and Judy frowned. "And the good giant robots kicked his ass at Mission City after he escaped."

"And where did this evil robot escape from?" Judy asked darkly.

"Remember that guy Simmons? His buddies had the evil robot, Megatron, on ice under Hoover Dam, but some of the other evil robots busted him out."

"And what happened to the other evil robots?"

"They got killed too. Only one got away."

"So what are the good robots going to do about that?" Judy continued to prompt Sam in the same tone she had used when he used to make up bed-time stories about his favourite super heroes.

"They're staying on Earth to protect us in case the evil robots come back," Sam stated simply. "The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State are coming here, today, to make a treaty with them."

"Sam, how do you expect us to buy such a huge load of crap?" Ron demanded. "Giant robots? Where did they come from? Outer space?"

"Yeah, actually. Oh, and my Camero, he's one of them. The good ones. His name's Bumblebee. He knew the Decepticons, the bad robots, were going to come after me because of Grandpa, so he made it so Bobby Bolivia had to sell him to us."

"Now this is getting out of hand, young man," Judy said sharply. She got out of her seat and headed for the window. "I just don't know how you can stand there and lie to us as if…" She trailed off as she saw Sam's Camero drive up to the portable without a driver.

"Yup, that's Bumblebee. He's got great timing," Sam commented.

"Ron! Ron, the car's driving itself!" Judy exclaimed as Ron joined her at the window. She fainted dead into his arms when Bumblebee transformed and waved to them.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

About 5pm, a small convoy of black SUVs pulled into the base and unloaded two VIPs before driving off again. Lennox and Simmons lead a detail to greet the new arrivals.

"Welcome to Camp Furman, Mr. Secretary, Madam Secretary," Simmons said with a salute.

"Thank you, Simmons. Military uniform fit alright?" Secretary of Defense John Keller asked.

"Yes, sir. We have some refreshments set up and you can meet the Witwicky boy's parents…" Simmons said as he started to lead the VIPs to the portable.

"I'd rather meet the new arrivals," the black woman piped up as she refused to follow Simmons.

"Um, well, we're not really set up yet. The podium isn't in place and…" Simmons stopped and stammered

"Simmons, I really don't think we're going to impress them with a podium, so let's get this show on the road," Keller said.

"Uh, well then. The hangar is where we'll be doing all the introductions, since the cloud cover is unreliable today," Simmons lead the Secretaries to the Quonset hut that the Autobots were currently calling 'home'. "Captain, go get the Witwickys." Lennox nodded and marched off double-time to the portable. He was rather surprised to find the elder Witwickys completely silent and deathly pale.

"Is everyone alright in here?" Lennox asked as he entered.

"Yeah. Bumblebee just came over to say hello," Sam quipped. "They should be okay in a minute."

"Well, you've only got a minute. The introductions are starting in the hangar now," Lennox replied.

"You mean we have to meet more giant alien robots?" Judy Witwicky asked as she and Ron stood shakily.

"Yes, ma'am. And the Secretaries of Defense and State." Judy sat back down again. Hard.

"Come on, Judy, we don't want to keep the dignitaries waiting," Ron said as he helped Judy up. He was visibly more hale now that he knew he would be meeting human VIPs, as well. Sam and Mikaela just looked at each other and smiled. The whole lot hustled into the hangar just in time to see the Secretary of State make something of a fool of herself.

"Look, John, I didn't stump it on a crappy flight all the way out from Washington just to see a bunch of trucks with nice paintjobs. Where are the aliens?" She said as she turned from the line of impressive vehicles to face Keller. "And what is that God-damn noise?" When she turned around again to face the noise, she almost fell upon her butt.

"My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Madam Secretary," Optimus said as he crouched down and extended his hand.

"I…I'm flattered, Optimus Prime," the Secretary of State stammered before regaining her composure and getting back on script. "I'm Candace Miller and on behalf of the United States of America I want to welcome you to Earth. May I introduce Secretary of Defense John Keller."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Secretary Keller. Thank you for securing the release of Bumblebee from Sector 7," Optimus said. He shot an unfriendly glance at Simmons, who just smiled.

"No thanks necessary, Optimus Prime. Without Bumblebee's assistance we would never have been able to get the cube out of the dam before Megatron thawed out," Keller replied. Optimus nodded.

"I would like to introduce my unit. This is Ratchet, our Chief Medical Officer, Ironhide our Weapons Specialist, and Bumblebee our Scout," Each Autobot nodded as their name was said and kept their snide comments (and cannons) to themselves.

"And I'm sure that by now you know Major Simmons, Captain Lennox, and their unit?" Keller said as he indicated the officers, who nodded.

"Yes, indeed. Their assistance at Mission City was invaluable. Without them we would have been overwhelmed by the Decepticons."

"Excuse me, did you say Mission City?" Judy Witwicky said as she strode from the side of the hangar to stand next to Keller.

"Yes, I did, Mr. Witwicky. Samuel saved my life, and your planet, by destroying Megatron with the AllSpark," Optimus replied.

"What do you think you were doing dragging my son into the middle of a war zone?" Judy demanded. Optimus stopped and blinked in confusion for a moment.

"It was the fastest way for Bumblebee to get him away from Megatron. Within the confines of Hoover Dam he would have been an easy target," Optimus finally said, putting a good spin on Bumblebee's slightly reckless actions.

"And what, exactly, was he doing under the dam with Mega-thingy in the first place?" Judy continued.

"You would have to ask Major Simmons," Optimus said with deadpan expression, but a hint of mischief in his voice. Judy spun, stormed over to Simmons, and stared him down.

"It was a, uh, matter of national security. We needed to debrief the boy and Miss Banes on their interaction with the NB, ah, Autobots," Simmons stammered. "Hoover Dam was the most secure facility."

"Secure my butt. Megatron had claws as long as I am tall," Lennox muttered.

"I don't need any help from you, Captain!" Simmons roared.

"You look at me when I'm talking to you, mister," Judy shouted as she grabbed the front of Simmons uniform. The yelling just got worse from there. Standing at the back of the hangar, Sam hid his face in his hand.

"So, Dad, you wanna meet the Secretary of Defense? He's a pretty cool guy," Sam said quietly. Ron nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

"Uhm, Secretary Keller?" Sam asked quietly as he edged over to the Secretary of Defense. Lennox had seen Sam, Mikeala, and Ron approach and stopped the guards from preventing it. "I'd, um, like to introduce my Dad. You've already met Mom."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Witwicky. Your son is a credit to your family," Keller said without missing a beat or looking surprised. He was, after all a seasoned politician.

"Well, um, thank you," Ron replied shaking the Secretary's offered hand.

"Your wife is very… Protective," Keller commented.

"Yeah. Sam's our only kid, so she smothers him. We got a Chihuahua to distract her, but it didn't really work," Ron agreed.

"Now she smothers me and emasculates the dog," Sam quipped. Keller wasn't sure what to make of that, so he ignored it.

"I'm sure you all know Secretary of State Miller from TV?" Keller continued.

"Yes ma'am. We're really impressed to meet you," Ron said as she shook her hand.

"Your son and Miss Banes did some heroic things at Mission City, from what I'm told Mr. Witwicky. I was hoping for a more opportune time to ask this but now is as good as any. Sam, Mikaela, would you two be willing to serve your country as our official civilian liaisons with the Autobots? You seem to have developed a rapport with them that it will take our diplomats a long time to develop."

"Sure," Sam said with a nod.

"Okay," Mikaela also agreed.

"Good. Now, you two will have to take a couple of condensed classes in diplomatic etiquette and procedure, and there will be some State Department officials joining you to help out with the paperwork, but we can put it down as an exchange program or model UN to get you some extra credit in school," Miller said.

"That sounds cool," Sam replied. While Miller was giving Sam and Mikaela their new job, Keller decided to put and end to the shouting match.

"Major Simmons!" Simmons and Judy immediately silenced. "I believe we have some medals to hand out."

"Yes, sir," Simmons turned and waved a man with a small cart over. The cart contained seven identical medals.

"These medals are for your bravery and quick thinking in Qatar, gentlemen," Keller said to Lennox' squad as turned to them. "You won't be able to say what they're for, other than averting a mistaken international incident." Simmons proceeded to pin the medals to the uniforms of the soldiers.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Lennox asked. Simmons rolled his eyes.

"Go ahead, Captain," Keller said.

"What about Fig, sir? He was with us in Qatar."

"I'll be presenting him with a medal, too, but it will have to wait until we can get him out of the military hospital and somewhere a little more private."

"Thank you, sir." While the humans had their discussions, the Autobots were having a private chat of their own.

"_How do they stand to many audio transmissions at once? It makes my processor hurt,_" Ironhide complained.

"_It's called selective listening, Ironhide, and you could do it to if you tried,_" Ratchet replied.

"_I do it all the time when I'm scouting. You have to filter a lot of audio to get anything useful,_" Bumblebee added helpfully.

"_I don't get useful information out of noise. I turn off my audio receptors and wait to feel the concussion,_" Ironhide groused.

"_Concussion?_" Bumblebee wondered.

"_From my cannons hitting their targets. Listening is for scouts, snipers, and saboteurs. Not me._"

"_If it were, you wouldn't be such a pain in the aft after all this time,_" Ratchet replied. Ironhide raised his arm to slug the medic, but stopped when Optimus entered the discussion.

"_We have guests, Ironhide. Mind your manners,_" Optimus said. Ironhide looked back at the humans to find several staring at his upraised arm. He waived, smiled menacingly (despite trying to look friendly), and put his arm back down.

* * *

Starscream was awoken from a very deep recharge by a transmission from deep space. It was a distinctive transmission, on a power level only possible by a very few mechs.

"_Status: Under attack. Requesting alternate landing coordinates,_" the mech stated with his usual monotone lack of verbiage.

"_How many others are with you?_" Starscream asked in reply.

"_Independent: 3. Dependent: 5. 6__th__ dependent's presence is demanded._"

"_Yes, yes. I know you didn't want to give him up, though why you are so attached to your parasites is beyond me. He'll be arriving shortly._"

"_Pursuit. Landing flexibility required. Alternate landing coordinates?_"

"_Just put down anywhere on the same continent and make your way overland. What is your ETA to the planet?_"

"_4.2 planetary cycles._" Then the transmission abruptly stopped.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

The meeting at Camp Furman quickly broke down into separate groups to discuss specifics of the Autobots' move to Earth. Optimus was deep in treaty negotiation with Secretary of State Miller. Ironhide was chatting about comparative military strategy and weapon design with Lennox, his squad, and Secretary of Defense Keller. Ratchet was talking slowly and using small words to explain the Cybertronian diet to Major Simmons, while irritating the man immensely. Bumblebee was working out housing arrangements with the Witwickys.

"Okay, so that's settled, then. We'll get one of those tent-style temporary garages for Bumblebee so he can change out of his car get-up and relax," Ron stated finally.

"Thank you, Mr. Witwicky," Bumblebee replied. "My internal systems function much better when I'm not all folded up."

"Oh, I understand completely, dear," Judy said as she patted the giant robot's hand. "You should smell the dreadful gas Ron gets when he comes home after a day behind his desk without a break."

"Judy!"

"Mom!"

"What? It's true, isn't it? When you stay all hunched over staring at your computer all day and don't get out for a walk, it just wrecks your digestion," Judy defended statement.

"Fine, thank you! I get it!" Simmons was heard shouting from across the hangar. "You need a constant supply of energy to make your food and scrap metal to eat. Got it? You need any seasonings with that?" He asked sarcastically.

"Some trace elements like cadmium and other heavy metals are needed from time to time, and do taste better eaten in small amounts. So yes," Ratchet replied. "We will be needing seasonings."

"Okay, I'm sure we can handle that too. Just e-mail me a list 'cause I'm not gonna remember all this stuff," Simmons said.

"Done."

"What's done?"

"I just e-mailed you the list," Ratchet said.

"How?"

"I have an instantaneous wireless connection to the internet, remember? I thought the list up and sent it. Done." Ratchet explained slowly. "Now if you'll excuse me Colonel, I have to see to a patient." Ratchet made his way over to Bumblebee. "Speaking of diet, Bumblebee, I can tell from scanning you that you haven't been eating properly. I didn't re-attach your legs just so you could let them fall off again by not having sufficient raw materials in your system to re-build your structural members." Ratchet punctuated his lecture with a smack upside Bumblebee's head that left a small dent.

"I've had this same conversation with Sam over and over," Judy said. "You just can't get young people to eat properly."

"I'm glad that someone here understands the requirement for good eating habits," Ratchet replied to Judy with a smile. "Could I impose upon you to keep Bumblebee fed, Mrs. Witwicky? Since he'll be out of my sight at your residence most of the time."

"Oh, of course, Dr. Ratchet, I'd be happy to,"

"Please don't trouble yourself by adding a title to my name, Mrs. Witwicky. Just call me Ratchet."

"And you can call me Judy."

"Very well, Judy. Bumblebee will require a fairly small, but steady, intake of refined metals. His system can take care of combining them into the proper alloys for his use."

"Will our recycling do the trick? We get rid of plenty of empty dog food cans, pop cans, and glass bottles."

"That sound like a good start. If you could toss in some batteries, particularly NiCad, lithium, or NiMH, it will suffice for a regular diet for Bumblebee. I will see to any more esoteric needs when he is on base."

"Alright then, Ratchet, I can do that. Could you make sure that Sam eats well when he is on base, since I think he's going to be out here a fair bit. You can probably find better diet plans than I can with your fancy internet connection."

"It will be no trouble at all, Judy." Ratchet was then personally introduced to Ron, and Judy discussed the concepts of pets and gardens with the medic.

By late in the evening, Optimus had finished hammering out the framework for a treaty with Secretary Miller. He was both relaxed and excited to be working on a real negotiation again. It had been so long since he bargained with a real professional.

Ironhide had also enjoyed his conversation with the commandos. The outcome was a promise to show him some of the more interesting heavy vehicles in Army inventory and demonstrate their weapons. In return, he committed to at building a prototype plasma weapon for the commandos to use against Decepticons.

As it was now quite late, the event broke up. The VIPs returned to the airport and the soldiers, both human and Autobot, retired to their barracks. Bumblebee and the Witwickys returned to the house.

* * *

Four objects flashed through interplanetary space, on-route from Mars to Earth. Two were spherical and the others were ovoid with maneuvering fins. Behind the first group followed multiple spheres and a large rounded cylinder. Bolts of superheated plasma were traded between the two groups, but the vastness of space made evasion easy and accurate targeting difficult. Even when shots came perilously close, the ovoids managed to evade, and even darted through the other formation because their engines were more widely spaced and allowed more violent maneuvers, while many shots aimed at the larger group stopped dead mid-flight.

Finally, the warring objects approached the upper atmosphere of Earth and had to break off. All the mystery vessels retracted their weapons and engines before sealing up their armoured hulls and plunging through the atmosphere.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

"_Bumblebee, return to base,_" Optimus Prime transmitted privately. The Camaro came to a dead halt and pulled a u-turn.

"Bumblebee! What the hell?" Sam demanded as his parent's minivan shrank in the rearview mirror.

"Optimus ordered me to return to the base," Bumblebee replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"So ask him."

"Oh, I guess I could. I just assumed he wanted to keep it off the radio," Bumblebee explained. "_Optimus, I still have Sam and Mikaela aboard. Will their presence be a problem?_"

"_Negative, Bumblebee. We have multiple friendly protoforms incoming, so some civilian humans might be good to have around,_" Optimus replied. Bumblebee sent a short burst indicating his assent and sped back to base. They cleared the security checkpoint just in time to see the meteorite forms of the incoming Autobots slam into the desert live-fire zone of the base.

"Whoa," Sam muttered as he got out of Bumblebee. Mikaela had a similar reaction to the sight before them. Seeing Optimus unfold from his interplanetary form was impressive, but seeing multiple Autobots perform the same feat in synchronization was awe-inspiring. Sam nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt something metallic crawl up his back. "Get it off! Get it off!" He shouted as he spun around and tried to grab the thing clinging to his back. His reward was a chuckle of mechanical glee from the thing.

"Sam, calm down," Bumblebee said, having already transformed to his primary mode. "It's just Xbot."

"What's an Xbot?" Sam demanded as he continued his flailing.

"Xbot is one of the younglings created by the AllSpark during the battle at Mission City. We call him that because of his alternate mode."

"Oh," Sam said as he finally tripped over his own feet. The small white and green Autobot came to sit upon his shoulders and patted him on the head. In Sam's opinion, Xbot looked too much like Frenzy. Then he noticed that the psychotic Mountain Dew machine and the tow truck he hooked Bumblebee to were also in attendance. "Bumblebee, how many younglings do you have on base?"

"These three, plus one that has not yet awakened. These are Dewbot and Longarm," Bumblebee indicated to the drink machine and the tow truck.

"Uh, hi," Sam said weakly. The Mountain Dew machine transformed and handed him a can of pop, while the tow truck just waved after transforming. The group turned its attention back to the new arrivals. One was a huge rounded cylinder, but only the front quarter unfolded into a robot. It approached Optimus Prime and saluted.

"**Ultra Magnus reporting for duty, Prime. Orders?**" The robot asked to the confusion of the humans.

"**Magnus, I'm going to send you the local language so we don't appear rude to the humans,**" Optimus did so and then continued in English. "Retransmit the language file to your team and then report to the hangar structure for medical assessment."

"Aye, Prime." The robot turned back to the other new arrivals and then they all trotted to the hangar. It was then that Sam noticed that this new leader was easily bigger than Ironhide and almost as big as Optimus.

"Bumblebee, who is that guy?" Sam asked.

"That is Ultra Magnus, head of Support Services. Let's get to the hangar and you can get introduced to everyone at once," Bumblebee suggested.

"Okay," Sam replied and they all walked to the hangar.

"Support Services?" Mikaela asked.

"I dunno, maybe it's like supply management and stuff," Sam suggested.

"Not really. Just wait until we get the introductions done and you'll see," Bumblebee said. Inside the hangar, Ratchet was going over each of the protoform Autobots and giving them ringing scoldings for the stupidity of engaging Decepticons in interplanetary space.

"We did have them outnumbered," One of the group spoke up. As he spoke, panels on the sides of his head flashed.

"There were Seekers with the Decepticons. Seekers. You don't engage them in space, you scrap-brained moron," Ratchet countered. "They would have reduced my workload if they kept you from landing."

"Sam, Mikaela, allow me to introduce you to Ultra Magnus," Optimus said after noticing the humans. "Magnus is the head of Support Services, which means it will be his job to help us find ways to get settled on Earth."

"Pleased to meet you," Sam said to Magnus. Mikaela echoed the sentiment.

"And I you, Samual Witwicky. You did the Cybertronian species a great service by eliminating Megatron," Ultra Magnus replied. "Your courage in helping Bumblebee is also of note Mikaela Banes. Thank you both."

"You're welcome," Mikaela said. "Welcome to Earth."

"Again, my thanks," Magnus said. "Let me introduce my staff. The one arguing with Ratchet is Wheeljack, our applied engineer."

"Isn't that usually dangerous?" Mikaela asked.

"Engineering?" Magnus looked for clarification.

"No, arguing with Ratchet."

"Normally," Magnus laughed. "But Wheeljack and Ratchet go back a very long ways and they owe each other much."

"Try to avoid Wheeljack's lab. He makes things explode." Bumblebee whisphered as Sam and Mikaela looked at each other. "Things that normally have no explosive properties at all."

"Those are Grapple and Hoist. Once they choose alternate modes you'll be able to tell them apart better, but Grapple is the big one. He's our chief architect. Hoist is our maintenance engineer." Magnus pointed out a fairly large pair of mechs.

"Isn't that the same thing as what Ratchet does?" Sam asked.

"Not quite. Ratchet is an expert on Cybertronian physiology like one of your…" Magnus paused to check the internet. "Doctors. Hoist can work on any mechanical system under the stars, but I wouldn't let him near my spark casing. He is more of a generalist, like a veterinarian." Then Ultra Magnus pointed to a pair of small mechs. "That is Perceptor. He's our theoretical physicist."

"Finally, in order of largest to smallest, we have Inferno, Trailbreaker, and Red Alert," Ultra Magnus pointed out a trio of mechs who were examining the structure of the hangar. "Inferno is a fire response expert, Trailbreaker is our defensive tactician, and Red Alert is the security director."

"Which means that Inferno puts out fires, Trailbreaker designs base defenses, and Red Alert is a paranoid pain in the aft," Bumblebee added.

"I heard that, Bumblebee." Red Alert said from the other side of the room without bothering to face Bumblebee. The young Autobot quickly transformed into his Camaro alternate mode.

"Look at the time! I have to get you two home to bed!" Bumblebee exclaimed before scooping up Sam and Mikaela and speeding off the base.

* * *

The ovoid objects proved highly maneuverable in the atmosphere and came to rest just meters away from Starscream's secluded location. They unfolded into their robot forms and stalked towards Starscream, who was already in primary mode.

"**Welcome, brothers,**" Starscream said. "**Here, I have already located the most powerful aircraft of this planet and you may share with me its use as your alternate mode.**" Starscream transmitted the Raptor scan he had done months before and watched as the two Decepticons standing before him modified themselves to match him.

"**This paint job sucks tailpipe,**" One of the jets complained. "**How are our enemies supposed to tell which of us fragged them?**"

"**How about a bit of colour?**" Starscream suggested before some of his panels shifted to a brilliant crimson in colour.

"**That'll work,**" the complaining Decepticon agreed before the same panels on his body shifted to a bold violet. The silent Decepticon's corresponding panels converted to a strident shade of blue before he spoke.

"**A little bit of home,**"

"**And by the time we are done, this planet will be a lot more like home,**" Starscream promised before breaking into a maniacal cackle. The other two jets just looked at each other, as if this sort of display had played out many times before.

* * *

The two spherical objects were forced off-course by the battle in space. They came to rest in a forest in Poland. A small military convoy had the misfortune of stumbling upon the two protoform Decepticons, and was swiftly annihilated. One of the Decepticons stepped forward and scanned the gore-splattered hulk of a KTO Rosomak communications vehicle before transforming in to a cleaner copy. The second Decepticon scanned the armoured truck that was the original purpose of the convoy because it was carrying the payroll for one of the local units.

"**What is our destination?**" the now-armoured truck asked.

"**Destination: Eastwards.**" The Rosomak replied before rolling off in that direction.

* * *

Author's Note:

I do not own the Polish Army KTO Rosomak, which is their designation for the Patria AMV, which I don't own either.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

Lennox and Epps had the privilege of watching the same precision protoform landing as Sam and Mikaela, but from a different vantage point. They were on a night patrol of the base perimeter with Ironhide when Optimus' call about the incoming friendly protoforms went out.

"We must return to base, Lennox," Ironhide stated as the steering wheel spun of its own accord under Lennox' hands. "Optimus says that there are more Autobots about to land."

"Sweet," Epps replied.

"I don't see where flavour comes into it," Ironhide said in confusion.

"Slang, Ironhide. Vernacular," Lennox explained.

"Oh. You speak the dialect that Jazz preferred, Epps?" Ironhide asked.

"I wouldn't call it a dialect, but yeah, I do," Epps confirmed.

"I was hoping to be able to purge those ridiculous files, but now it seems I'll have to keeps them," Ironhide grumbled. "Jazz made me learn the popular vernacular and dialects of every slagging planet we landed on, or be completely unable to understand what he said."

"Harsh," Lennox said sarcastically.

"I could make you walk."

The rest of the ride was companionable small-talk and the landing was watched in awed silence, since neither of the soldiers had ever seen a protoform landing before. Epps noticed that the largest protoform left a large portion of himself behind.

"That guy just got up and walked off without his ass!"

"Ultra Magnus' secondary component isn't essential to his operation. He'll get it later," Ironhide explained before heading back to the hangar. "Come on. I'm sure that introductions will be happening shortly." Ironhide was correct and so Lennox and Epps got to hear the same speech as Sam and Mikaela. After Bumblebee's exit, and much chuckling, Ironhide approached Magnus.

"Magnus, these are William Lennox and Robert Epps. They killed Blackout and helped take down Brawl and Megatron," Ironhide stated.

"So you two are warriors?" Magnus asked the pair.

"Yes, sir," Lennox replied with a nod.

"No need for formality."

"Sure thing, um, Ultra Magnus," Lennox replied awkwardly.

"Hey, can I ask you a question about that thing you left outside?" Epps piped up.

"Certainly."

"What is it?" Ultra Magnus chuckled for a moment, confusing the humans.

"I suppose the best analogy is that it's my trailer," the humans were still confused. "In my alternate mode, I usually tow it behind me. It can transport smaller Autobots and act as a mobile weapons station."

"Nice," Lennox commented.

"Very. When I'm in my primary form, after I get some armour, I can use it as an exoskeleton for extra firepower."

"Why doesn't Optimus have one of those?" Epps asked.

"He does. He just doesn't use it much, so he left it on the _Ark_," Ironhide stated.

"Why not?" Lennox asked.

"What's the _Ark_?" Epps asked at the same time.

"The _Ark_ is our ship. It's far too large and conspicuous, so we left it in your asteroid belt," Ironhide explained.

"And Optimus doesn't use his exoskeleton because it restricts mobility quite significantly. It provides a lot of weapons and armour, but its really not much use against Megatron. I use mine because I tend to do a lot of artillery support from behind the front line, while Optimus tends to be in the thick of things," Magnus added.

"You mean like tackling giant alien jet fighters?" Epps asked with a smile.

"Optimus performed jet judo?" Magnus asked with a surprised smile.

"Yes. Don't tell the twins," Ironhide threatened.

* * *

The drive up to Alaska was long, cold, and boring. Bonecrusher was not a welcoming host to Frenzy and refused to open a compartment for the smaller Decepticon to dock, forcing Frenzy to take power from a 12V socket in the excavator control cab. To say that the little bot was irritated was extreme understatement, so when they finally stopped outside a fishing port on Alaska's westernmost tip, he was a little frustrated.

"**Why Bbbonecrusher stop?**" Frenzy demanded.

"**You're going to prove your worth now, parasite,**" Bonecrusher threatened. "**Go into the settlement and commandeer one of the fishing vessels to transport us across the Bering Sea.**"

"**Mmmake me!**"

"**Gladly!**" Frenzy found himself ejected into the air above the excavator cab and caught in the bucket of the excavator arm. The arm swung like a catapult with tremendous speed and hurled Frenzy over the town and onto the deck of a large trawler.

"_No ffffair!_" Frenzy transmitted before gunning down a shocked crewman. He ran up to the bridge, slaughtered the officers on duty, and took over the ship's computer. Shortly after, a fire alarm went off in the main fuel bunker and the rest of the crew abandoned ship. About an hour after that, Bonecrusher rolled aboard and the ship weighed anchor.

"**Not bad, pest. I may keep you alive to reach Lord Starscream,"** Bonecrusher complimented.

"**That's Cccaptain Pest to yyyou!**" Frenzy said as he stuck his head out of the bridge window and pointed to his head. He was wearing at a rakish angle the cap of the ship's captain, which he had appropriated from the dead human.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

Because the new group of Autobots had landed at night, it was fairly easy to sneak them to the edge of the base, where they could watch a nearby highway. Optimus remained at the hangar to keep watch. Ultra Magnus was the first to select an alternate mode. He picked a white Volvo transport truck for himself and a blue car carrier trailer for his exo-armour.

Wheeljack was next, and he scanned a passing Ford Ranger pickup truck. The truck was outfitted with a bed cover that had an attached spoiler. The original blue colour of the alternate mode just didn't suit Wheeljack, so he switched it to white with green and red stripes down the sides.

"Do you actually need the bed cover, Wheeljack?" Bumblebee asked. "Because pickup trucks configured for speed kind of defeat the purpose of a pickup truck…"

"Yes, I need the bed cover," Wheeljack said while in his alternate mode. "It hides this." The forward end of the bed cover popped up to reveal a sizable missile launcher underneath.

"Ah. I see your point," Bumblebee admitted.

Trailbreaker chose next and picked a black Class-C conversion van camper as his alternate mode. It gave him plenty of room to hide his considerable mass, but got really poor fuel milage.

Hoist's choice of a green tow truck made Long Arm very happy as he now had someone to whom he could relate.

Inferno and Red Alert were extremely picky about their alternate forms. Inferno had good reason because he was simply too large to use most vehicles as his disguise. Red Alert wanted something that could get everywhere on base, but be fast enough to escape from the spies he was sure were lurking about. They came to their decisions together when a fire rescue Hummer H3 sped down the highway followed by a pumper truck.

Grapple' problem of mass was similar to Inferno's. He was just too big for most vehicles. Grapple's scanning dilemma was solved when a bright orange mobile crane drove past.

That left Perceptor.

"Come on, Perceptor. Pick something," Ratchet scolded.

"I refuse. Not only are most of these vehicular alternates too large for my frame to mimic, but I also have no interest in any of them," Perceptor complained.

"Why not?" Wheeljack asked. Ratchet pulled a wrench out of his tool compartment and began to fidget with it.

"I am a scientist. I belong in a laboratory, not racing down some primitive expanse of tarmac. None of these vehicles carry any form of advanced scientific or imaging equipment what so ever."

"So look something up on the internet, already! The sun's coming up and we don't have much time here," Simmons yelled.

"The planetary data network? I suppose that could have something appropriate," Perceptor agreed.

"Look it up from the hangar. We need to get out of sight," Red Alert ordered. "More satellites will be coming over in half an hour and we can't let them see us. The Decepticons could easily steal the images off of the 'secure' servers of any nation on this planet. I won't have them finding us so easily."

On that note, the Autobots walked back across the base's expanse of desert to the hangar. On the way, Hoist contacted Ratchet.

"_Ratchet, Optimus' message said that Jazz was terminated,_"

"_Correct,_" Ratchet replied testily. He was irritated that Hoist would bring up such a painful subject.

"_He also stated that you have an AllSpark fragment,_"

"_So?_"

"_I was under the impression that you were a senior member of the faculty at the Iacon Medical Research Center,_"

"_Again, so?_" Ratchet's fidgeting with his wrench became more urgent as he fought to keep control and not throw it at Hoist.

"_My apologies. I was under the impression that the senior faculty were all privy to the Comprehensive Repair project._"

"_Comp…_" Ratchet sputtered. He had totally forgotten about that. "_I… You know, that might just work. We'll need Perceptor, Grapple, and Wheeljack to help, but I think we can get a jury-rigged prototype built. Enough for one use, anyway._"

"_Splendid! Glad I could be of assistance,_" Hoist practically beamed with pride. Everybody else was concerned about why Ratchet had suddenly stopped fidgeting and why Hoist looked so pleased with himself. Neither was generally a good sign.

* * *

Author's Note:

I do not own the rights to any of the vehicle models mentioned.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** Cybertronian

_Italics_ Radio Transmission

* * *

The Decepticon base was not much to look at. Starscream had no eye for aesthetics and left the abandoned nuclear weapon production facility just as he found it. The small runway was just long enough to land his alternate mode on and the ceilings in the building were high enough in places for him to walk unbowed. Still, it did not meet the approval of Soundwave as the communications officer drove up.

"Facilities inadequate. Security and communications upgrades required," he commented to Payload.

"You make a list, and I'll get the stuff," Payload promised as they came to a halt and transformed. There was a gust of air from behind them.

"Took you long enough," Skywarp said testily. "Lord Starscream wants to talk to you inside." Soundwave nodded and he and Payload entered the facility.

"You may pledge your loyalty to me now, Soundwave," Starscream invited as Soundwave came into his view.

"Premature. Lord Megatron's death is unconfirmed."

"I saw him deactivate!" Starscream shrieked. "He was missing two limbs, his chassis was shattered, and his spark chamber was slagged by the AllSpark itself. He is dead!"

"First-hand examination of Lord Megatron's protoform is required," Soundwave countered. It was his way of saying that he would believe Megatron dead when he saw the corpse with his own optics.

"The native pests dropped Megatron's carcass into a trench at the bottom of their ocean. If you want to go down and have a look, be my guest," Starscream offered.

"Frenzy and Rumble are equipped for harsh environments. I will accept their reports."

"Will you submit to my command until we can find a way to get them down there?"

"Affirmative," Soundwave agreed.

"Good. We can salvage the leftovers of Blackout and Brawl at the same time."

* * *

"This Mission City event is yet another example of extra-terrestrial involvement on Earth," the British Ambassador declared in the closed session of the UN Security Council. "It clearly falls under the jurisdiction of the Taskforce."

"If any UN special operations unit is going to head this operation, and I stress 'if', it will be the Joint Operations Entity. The beings in question have clearly stated their intention to remain on Earth, so it's not a matter for space-watchers anymore," the American Ambassador countered.

"You can't deny their alien origin. The Taskforce has precedence."

"You're just saying that because it's your project."

"Zis is pointless," The French Ambassador moaned. "Why not juzt zend an advizor from each unit?"

"I could live with that," The British Ambassador admitted.

"That's fine with me, too," The American Ambassador agreed.

* * *

"Optimus, have you got a minute?" Ratchet asked as he cornered his leader at the back of the hangar.

"Is my next examination going to be less pleasant if I don't?" Optimus wondered.

"Yes."

"Then I have time."

"Hoist brought to mind the Comprehensive Repair project and I think we have a chance to make it work," Ratchet explained. "I talked it over with Wheeljack and Grapple and they both think we can do it."

"Ratchet, you're going to have to refresh my memory on this project. I remember the name, but it was a long time ago, and just before the war went hot, so I don't really recall my paperwork."

"The Comprehensive Repair Project was a plan to tap the AllSpark's energy to perform critical repairs faster than we could perform them manually. I was in agreement with the rest of the faculty at the Medical Institute that it could conceivably bring back 'bots that had suffered a spark chamber breach, provided enough of their processors remained intact and the spark chamber was not totally obliterated."

"Does Jazz's condition match the requirements?" Optimus asked hopefully.

"Not exactly, but it's close enough that I want Perceptor to take evaluate the damage."

"Fine. Have Perceptor examine Jazz's remains. What else do you need?"

"This is going to take a lot of power. More than the humans have given us access to. Fortunately, Grapple came up with a plan for a high-efficiency solar energy system that we can use to power the Critical Repair Chamber and an energon condenser."

"I was going to ask Magnus about one of those," Optimus mused.

"We can make our energon stores last longer by using human fuels for our main functions, but we'll need more energon eventually, so why not get the condenser built now?" Ratchet asked.

"An excellent point. Tell Grapple to send me the plans for this solar collector and have Hoist start work on an energon condenser that can work from the solar energy. I suppose you want Wheeljack to work with you on building this Comprehensive Repair Chamber?"

"Yes, Prime," Ratchet agreed.

"Permission granted. But I have one stipulation, Ratchet."

"What's that?"

"You have to come up with a shorter name than Comprehensive Repair Chamber."


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

The Autobot base proceeded swiftly from design to completion in the weeks following the arrival of Ultra Magnus' support team. Using just his vehicular mode and hologram, Grapple was able to oversee and participate in the construction of the base and ensure that it was completely to his specifications. Red Alert and Trailbreaker spent equally large amounts of time surveying the construction for security hazards and defensive holes. When all three were satisfied, the base was declared operational and the Autobots were able to move out of their Quonset hut hangars and into the new steel frame and cinderblock base building.

The entire base was under one roof. There were open-air walkways between some of the sections to reduce carry-over from explosions (both accidental and deliberate), but they were covered by roofs high enough that the all Autobots could walk comfortably, even Grapple and Inferno. The main building of the base contained the common area (or rec room, as Sam called it), individual quarters, and offices for Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and several other spares. A separate building connected by a walkway contained the armoury, Red Alert's security center, and the communications room. The final building was reserved for medical and scientific labs. Ratchet had the largest space in that building and the scientists had to share two labs.

Over the construction period, Ratchet and the scientists worked on how to get the CR chamber up and running without bringing undue attention. They approached Optimus with their plan the day after moving into the new buildings.

"I have designed a new power plant that will allow us to generate electricity, condense energon, and possible make some much needed currency," Grapple opened his presentation. Optimus nodded.

"Please continue, Grapple."

"I call it the solar power tower," Grapple said as he projected an image of the new structure in front of him. Wheeljack groaned at the pedantic name. "An array of mirrors will direct sunlight to the apex of the hollow cylindrical tower. The top of the tower is clad in high-efficiency solar cells that Wheeljack assures me are fully within the humans' ability to produce. The waste heat inside the top of the tower will be converted to energon by the condenser hidden within."

"It looks effective enough for generating energy, but how will it produce currency? I don't see any printing presses," Ultra Magnus questioned.

"Oh, it doesn't make currency directly," Perceptor piped up. "We make money from it by licensing the design for production by the humans."

"No. We will not give the humans energon condenser technology. Its too dangerous," Optimus stated.

"The version for human use doesn't include the energon condenser," Hoist countered. "Instead, it has a series of vents near the base that let cool air in. The air heated by the waste heat at the top of the tower will rise out, and cool air sucked in near the ground. A turbine just above the air inlets will be spun by the updraught and generate more electricity."

"That is acceptable. On the other hand, I don't want to disrupt the humans' economy by giving one corporation the design for potentially revolutionary solar cells. It would result in an unfair monolpoly," Optimus pointed out.

"That's not going to be a problem," Wheeljack disagreed. "The solar cells are very high efficiency, but need a lot of light to work. That's why we need the mirrors. They're also too expensive to use for general applications, but the small number needed for the tower is within most municipal budgets."

"Looks like you've covered all the angles," Ultra Magnus complemented the scientists.

"Not all of them," Perceptor admitted. "We don't really know who to say the design belongs to. If we don't have a name, we can't collect the royalties."

"I think we can let Major Simmons handle that matter," Optimus decided. Red Alert looked slightly concerned at the idea of humans handling Autobots' funds. In the end, Simmons didn't know what to call the Autobots. His ideas were all along the line of 'John Doe' and 'Bill Smith', which were not acceptable to the highly individualistic Cybertronians. It was Epps' idea for the more creative pseudonyms.

"Okay, Wheeljack, you can be Wheeler Jackson," Epps said. "We'll get the patent for the solar cells in your name. Grapple and Hoist can share credit for the tower as, um, G. R. Apple - no G. R. MacIntosh - and H. Oyster. Sound good?" The Autobots nodded in agreement. After that, it became a problem for Simmons' unit legal advisor.

* * *

Bonecrusher hated trees. He hated tundra. He hated snow. He hated rocks. He hated walking thousands of kilometers across this miserable planet. He especially hated Frenzy, who sat on his shoulder the whole way and complained non-stop about being out of range of a Wi-Fi connection to access the internet.

Unfortunately for Bonecrusher, not turning up, or turning up with Frenzy less-than-intact would be much worse than turning up, because if there was anything Bonecrusher _really_ hated, it was pain. Pain was something Soundwave was very adept at inflicting, and Soundwave wanted Frenzy returned intact.

So, Bonecrusher endured it all, and delivered the infuriating parasite to Soundwave (who didn't even say thank you). To relieve his frustrations, Bonecrusher went out behind the Decepticon base and smashed some old cars into unrecognizable scrap. It didn't help much.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

Sam and Mikaela were wandering the base, trying to find something to do. They entered the med/science building and spotted Wheeljack welding a large frame of some kind in his lab. They wisely decided not to bother him, since any distraction made a Wheeljack-induced explosion exponentially more likely. Instead, the went into the med bay to see if they could help Ratchet with anything. Inside, they found a red and blue cylinder, slightly taller than Sam, sitting next to Jazz's body.

"We have DewBot to hand out drinks. Why do we need a watercooler in the med bay?" Sam asked Mikaela.

"I AM NOT A WATERCOOLER!" the object shouted before transforming into an extremely irate Perceptor. "My alternate mode is a scanning-tunneling electron microscope, and if you cannot recognize that, your educational system is even more deficient than I originally estimated!" Perceptor was quivering with anger and his single huge optic was fixed menacingly on Sam.

"Sorry, sorry!" Sam blurted as he scuttled backwards.

"We don't have electron microscopes in school, Perceptor," Mikaela hastily explained.

"They only have them in universities and stuff," Sam added after reaching a safe distance from Perceptor.

"One would think that you would have at least seen a picture," Perceptor complained. "Don't human younglings have any interest in advanced scientific fields?"

"Um, not really. We're pretty much into things that are obvious, or too self-absorbed to notice anything, really," Sam said before glancing at Mikaela. "Present company excepted."

"Of course," Mikaela replied with a smile.

"How disappointing. Well, you might as well get some scientific tutoring while you are here. Come examine this," Perceptor pointed to a ripped point in Jazz's torso. "We were able to reconnect all the physical elements, but we need the CR chamber that Wheeljack is constructing to resuscitate Jazz's Spark."

"So what were you doing, then?" Mikaela asked.

"I was attempting to ascertain if enough of Jazz's Spark imprint remained in his processors and Spark chamber to reactivate him."

"But isn't that what the CR chamber is for?" Sam asked.

"Sparks are standing energy waves. They contain our personalities, long term memories, and functional limitations. They also leave an imprint on the Spark chamber that houses them, our processors, and our short-term memory systems. If there is not enough imprinted Spark signature within Jazz, even the CR chamber will be unable to reactivate him."

"So, is there enough of an imprint to bring him back?" Mikaela asked hesitantly.

"I believe so. Of course, this is all highly hypothetical. Such a procedure has never been performed before."

"Wow. I hope it works," Sam said.

"As do I," Perceptor replied.

"So what did you mean by the Spark storing your limits?" Mikaela changed the subject.

"Our Sparks impose certain limitations on each Cybertronian. They specify how big a shell we can occupy, how large our alternate modes can be, and how many alternate modes we can have."

"So, this is as big as you could possibly be?" Sam asked.

"No. My current mass is at the optimal point for me, approximately half-way between my largest and smallest possible sizes. Most Cybertronians try to achieve their optimal mass. If one pushes to the extremes, it can cause difficulty operating or mental instability."

"Like that little jerk Frenzy?" Sam clarified.

"Precisely."

"Why did you say your Spark governs how many alternate modes you can have? I thought you just had robot mode and alternate," Mikaela said.

"Most of us only have one alternate mode. There are some that can store more than one. They are extremely rare and sought-after. Now, I would appreciate it if you younlings would leave. As entertaining as this has been, I have other tests I must perform."

"OK. Bye, Perceptor," Sam said as he and Mikaela left the med bay. They walked back to the main doors, where a black SUV had just pulled up and two officers (a man and a woman) in unfamiliar uniforms had been unloaded from the back.

"'Scuse me kids, do you know where I can find Major Simmons?" The male officer asked.

"Sure. His office is in the human building, just over there," Sam pointed to a smaller building across a stretch of tarmac from the Autobots' main building.

"Thanks, son," The man said and the two officers started off for the other building.

"He wasn't surprised or anything when I said 'human building'," Sam said to Mikaela. "Let's go see what's going on." He ran off after the officers.

"Sam! I don't think that's a good idea…" Mikaela shouted, but then she ran after him, very glad that she had worn running shoes instead of high heels today. "Boys…" She muttered. The two teens raced through the halls, without knocking anybody over, and got to Simmons' office as the two new officers were saluting the Colonel.

"Captain Marian Price, Royal Engineers, Unified Intelligence Taskforce," the woman introduced herself while standing rigidly at attention. Her accent pegged her as English.

"Lieutenant JG Ronald Stone, US Coast Guard, Global International Joint Operations Entity," the man said while standing equally rigidly.

"At ease," Simmons replied. "Take a seat. So, the UN has sent its nannies to babysit me. Now UNIT I understand, we're dealing with aliens after all, but what does GIJOE have to do with this?"

"Well, sir, since the Cybertronians have decided to settle on Earth, the Ambassador was able to argue that the Decepticons are as much a domestic threat as an extraterrestrial one," Stone said.

"Hmph. In other words, the US ambassador to the UN didn't like the idea of a UN organization that wasn't his idea getting this job," Simmons said sourly.

"I wouldn't know, sir," Stone demurred.

"Oh, trust me. That's how it is," Simmons replied. "I know GIJOE is all big on codenames, so what's yours?"

"Ah, Cutter, sir."

"Coast Guard. Makes sense. Let me guess, you're the only Coastie in the unit?"

"Yes, sir," 'Cutter' said proudly. Simmons turned his attention to Captain Price, who looked unhappy.

"So, Price, what's your take on all this?"

"I think that UNIT should have been informed of your Project Iceman as soon as it was formed. Our intelligence sources could have prevented the Mission City Incident if you had shared the information," she stated matter-of-factly, if only to prevent her own anger from seeping out.

"Oh, come on. Sector Seven was no worse than England's Torchwood Institute. You're just mad that S7 got folded into the US military after our mistake, but Torchwood got themselves killed and a quarter of London along with 'em," Simmons snapped.

"Respectfully, sir…"

"Stop right there, Captain. We have spies," Simmons jumped out of his chair and charged into the hall, catching Mikaela by the back of her shirt, but missing Sam. "You two are already in deep water with what you know about the Autobots. You let anything, and I mean anything of what you just heard slip, and I will make sure that you NEVER see sunlight again. Got it?"

"Yeah," Mikaela said with a glare. Sam nodded.

"I can't hear you, Witwicky," Simmons snarled.

"Yes, okay? I understand," Sam shouted back.

"Good. Now come meet the UN reps," Simmons frog-marched the teens into his office. "Lt. Stone, Cpt. Price, these are Samuel Witwicky and Mikaela Banes. Mr. Witwicky's great-great-grandfather discovered NBE 1…"

"Megatron," Sam corrected.

"Whatever. In the arctic. Sammy here, was the one who pushed the Cube into Mr. Big-and-Nasty's chest at Mission City and took the sucker out. Miss Banes, here, aside from being Sam's criminal girlfriend, assisted Autobot Bumblebee in taking out one of the Decepticons and saved an elite spec-ops squad's butts in the process."

"I thought you got my criminal record erased," Mikaela snapped.

"Just because there's no official record of your juvenile delinquency doesn't mean that I'm going to forget it," Simmons said smoothly. "Now go play with your alien buddies and don't let me see you snooping around my office again." Sam and Mikaela made a swift exit and went to find Bumblebee. Simmons took the two UN observers to meet the rest of the Autobot-minding crew.

* * *

"**Lord Starscream, the Autobots are up to something,**" Barricade called Starscream over MSN.

"**When are they not? This had better be worth my while, Barricade,**" Starscream threatened.

"**They've constructed a new base outside of Tranquility and are building some large-scale energy production capacity. I've got video I can send you of my recon runs near their base.**"

"**No. No no no. Just sent me still images of the most important features of the base. The internet bandwidth at our new base is absolutely horrid, so it would take me forever to download a video clip.**"

"**Understood. Here are the images.**"

"**Interesting. Keep an eye on them. If anything unusual happens, get in for a closer look.**"

"**Yes, Lord Starscream.**"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

Seven spheroid objects emerged from the shadow of an asteroid and proceeded towards Earth. As the objects passed Mars, new objects rose from the planet to intercept them. The new group was composed of four finned ovoids and two winged cylinders. The Martian group unleashed a furious hail of missiles and plasma at the group from the belt.

The spheroids scattered in all directions, attempting to draw off their attackers, but the ovoids were too nimble and the cylinders' too long-ranged to be avoided. One by one, the spheroids were forced from their intended path to land scattered across the Earth.

The attackers were somewhat scattered, as well. The cylinders, massive and powerful, were able to return to their intended course before atmospheric insertion and came down in the Russian steppes. The ovoids were not so lucky. One managed to land in Russia, but the rest scattered across Europe.

Unlike the previous European landing, this one was observed. In the Ukraine, buried beneath metres of concrete, the observer stirred. Being entombed for hundreds of years was not long for a Cybertronian under normal circumstances but was an eternity immobile. Half-slumbering and operating only on his secondary fission reactor, the observer had waited for others to come. He had seen them and knew the time was right to emerge. By draining the last of his precious energon reserves, the observer was able to shatter the concrete above him and broadcast a weak spark signal. He slipped back into passivity content in knowing that he would soon be found and have his revenge.

* * *

Sam scowled as he emerged from the school. He had stayed late to argue a mark with his science teacher. Just because a concept was beyond high school science didn't mean that it wasn't worth writing a paper on. Miss Russell shouldn't have given him that lousy grade on his research paper about life evolving on planets with no liquid water. The Autobots proved that the theory was correct. He just couldn't tell her that. In the end, the arguments he could come up with fell flat and he was left with a disappointing grade.

So, here he was, coming out of school an hour after everybody else, well everybody who wasn't on a sports team anyway. He was the only one to see the impact of the meteorite right into the school parking lot. Sam dove behind for cover, just in case the meteorite was a Decepticon, which was a possibility he would never have considered just months before.

The object unfolded slowly, with noticeable difficulty, and what sounded like Cybertronian complaints, until it revealed itself to be a protoform robot slightly larger than Bumblebee. The Cybertronian looked down at its impact crater and made a slightly worried noise before scanning a car, transforming, and driving away.

Sam came out of his hiding spot and took notice of the car the Cybertronian had scanned. It was a Mazda 6 wagon. Sam also noticed where the robot landed. It had crashed down in Miss Russell's parking space and smashed her car flat.

* * *

"Our lead story this evening is the impact of more mystery meteorites," the news anchor said. "This time the landings were not confined to Nevada and Russia, as previous events have been. In addition to Nevada and Russia, impact occurred in England, Sweden, Germany, and the US states of California, Louisiana, New Mexico, Washington, and Colorado. NASA has issued a press release saying that the meteorites were mostly composed of water and evapourated on impact. They had no comment on why the objects were not detected by efforts to catalogue all the near-Earth space debris.

"In other news, the race for the Whitehouse continues…"

"Turn it off," Ironhide grumbled. "We got what we needed to hear."

"Please don't," Perceptor disagreed. "I really would like to gather more data on this 'Presidential Election' that is currently underway. I've never been this close to a democratic leadership selection process and I find it fascinating."

"So go look it up on the Internet. The rest of us think it's boring," Ironhide said. Epps, who had the remote, looked back and forth between the two Autobots.

"Sorry, Perceptor. Ironhide's bigger and he's got more guns," Epps apologized as he pressed the power button on the remote. Ironhide smirked and Perceptor went away muttering something about the oppressive military-political system needing to be changed.

"So, who do you think landed?" Inferno asked Ironhide, making himself known in the conversation.

"We got a message a couple of days ago that one of the combat teams was pretty close, but it didn't say which one," Ironhide said. "I hope its one of the good one, 'cause it looks like the Decepticons got some more reinforcements, too." As soon as he finished, alarms started going off.

"Spark signature incoming at high rate of ground travel from Tranquility. Signal looks Autobot but it could be a fake. Man your posts," Red Alert blurted out over the intercom. "This is not a drill!" Before everyone could take in what was said, they were running for the gates. A silver station wagon with blue stripes smashed through the gates, skidded to a halt, and transformed.

"**I've gotta talk to Optimus right now! I've got bad news and it's really important! Please don't shoot me, Ironhide. I had a rough flight in and you know how Ratchet get when somebody goes into med bay and I don't want to make it worse with plasma burns, 'cause they're really a pain for him to fix and he gets really unhappy and throws things…**" the Cybertronian said as he put up his hands to shield his face.

"Stand down!" Ironhide shouted. "It's just **talks-profusely-in-run-on-sentences**." The humans were utterly confused by the Cybertronian that Ironhide tossed into his second statement, but assumed it must be some kind of name. "**Okay, kid, I'm transmitting a copy of the local language. Try not to insult the humans.**"

"Wow, this is a really nice language you've got here," the Autobot complemented. "It's got all kinds of verbs, and nouns, and adjectives. I don't think I'll ever get to use them all in conversation. What does 'antidisestablishmentarianism' mean, anyway?"

"Later. Don't you have news for Prime?" Ironhide cut the other off.

"Oh, yeah. Where is he anyway. He'll really want to hear what I have to say. What alternate mode did he pick, anyway?" The Autobot rambled on as Ironhide lead him into the base.

"Who was that guy?" Lennox asked the nearest Autobot, who happened to be Wheeljack.

"I think the closest translation for his name is 'Bluestreak'," Wheeljack replied. "You can probably guess why."


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

A Eurofighter Typhoon of the German Luftwaffe was heading west along its patrol route at about 10 000m above the ground. There was a flash of light, and moments later a second Typhoon was skimming the treetops headed east.

* * *

The Spanish Ejercito del Aire went to high alert when an Armada Espanola EAV-8B+ Matador II fighter took off from Rota naval base without permission. When the MPs reached the hanger to figure out which jet was stolen, all of the base's aircraft were found right where they were supposed to be.

* * *

Security personnel at BAe had to report a major IT security breach to the MoD when someone hacked into the F-35 Lightning plans. As far as they could tell, no files had been deleted or tampered with, but they replaced the files with a copy from the backup server just to be on the safe side.

* * *

Night workers at a Hollywood Lambourghini dealership reported to police that they saw two flashes of light, followed by garbled, static-like noises, five minutes of metal slamming against metal like a prolonged car wreck, and then two vehicles screeching their tires as they peeled out into the night.

* * *

"Tovarisch Starscream, I must request your assistance in a small matter," the President of Russia said into the telephone. It was a simple matter for Starscream to tap into the telephone line at his base, so the President had given him the scrambler codes for the Russian secure telephone system so they could speak in private.

"Please continue, Mr. President," Starscream offered.

"There have been rumblings of internal dissent in one of Russia's neighbouring countries, Belarus. Anarchist groups have been agitating for the defeat of the current President in the upcoming elections and cutting ties with Russia in favour of the EU. Similar events have already occurred in Georgia and the Ukraine and it has damaged the security situation in Russia. If the EU, and by extension the US, get their claws into Belarus they will have little difficulty piercing the secrecy of your new base and informing your Autobot enemies."

"That is a grave problem, Mr. President. What can I do to help?" Starscream asked, knowing full well that the situation in Belarus could not possibly affect his base, but playing the part of the patsy anyway.

"Your ability to alter your disguise into an American F-22 is invaluable at this time. If you could overfly Minsk in a show of support for one of the anarchist demonstrations, it would give the President there pretext to shut the anarchists down and galvanize his supporters."

"If you give me the date of the next event, I will do as you ask."

* * *

"Welcome to Earth, Bluestreak," Optimus said when the talkative Autobot entered his office. "What is this information that is so important that you dare delay Ratchet's examination?"

"We came out of the space bridge aboard the _Ark_ just like you said we would and flew in our space forms out of the asteroid belt and past the fourth planet. I think it's called Mars. When we passed its orbit, four Seekers and two shuttles came out of nowhere and tried to take us out, but we scattered and they couldn't get any good shots. I don't know where everyone else landed, but before we left Mars' orbit, I took a dip into the atmosphere and spotted a big energy signature. I think the Decepticons have a space bridge portal of their own down there, but I can't figure out where because I couldn't see it. Maybe they buried it under something, or cloaked it, or camouflaged it really well."

"So, the Decepticons have a means to rapidly reinforce here on Earth as well," Optimus mused.

"And they can intercept us when we pass Mars because they're closer to Earth," Ironhide pointed out.

"Why don't we just move the _Ark_ closer? It's got lots of fuel and I don't think the humans have good enough sensors to spot it. I'll go if you want me to," Bluestreak rambled enthusiastically.

"It isn't that simple, Bluestreak. The humans' sensors are, in fact, quite capable of detecting the _Ark_ if we bring it into Earth orbit, so we shall have to find some way of hiding it," Optimus corrected gently.

"We could land it on that big moon Earth has. They'd never spot it there. The whole place is a big mess of craters, even more bashed up than Cybertron. I wonder why they get so many impacts out here. Don't the humans ever clean it up? It looks pretty ugly."

"We could land the _Ark_ on the dark side of the Moon," Ironhide agreed.

"Well, it is a moot issue for now. We don't have any fliers or shuttles to leave the atmosphere with," Optimus sighed. "I will transmit a warning to for any future arrivals."

* * *

The dog barked as the car pulled away. His fur was ruffled around his neck, as though a collar had just been removed by pulling it over his head. He barked at every other car that passed him, hoping for some sort of attention. Finally, a forest green Jeep Compass came to a stop near him. He barked and ran over to paw at the door.

"Hey, little guy," a voice from within the Jeep said. "What are you doing alone out here?" In response, the dog stood with his front paws resting on the door and peered into the Jeep. There was no-one inside. This didn't particularly bother the dog. "How about I give you a ride to the nearest animal shelter." The voice suggested and the door opened. Now there was an occupant in the driver's seat, but the dog couldn't smell anyone. He hopped in and sniffed furiously, but failed to find anybody else in the car. The dog did as he usually did with things he could see and hear, but not smell: He ignored the other occupant of the car and went to sleep on the passenger seat.

* * *

Author's Note:

The EAS-8B+ Matador II is the Spanish designation for the AV-8B+ Harrier II Plus.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

"Here goes nothing," Wheeljack said as he flipped the Autobot-scale toggle switch mounted on the wall. It looked like something out of a Frankenstein movie.

"I'd prefer you didn't use that term when referring to one of my patients," Ratchet grumbled as electricity passed through the heavy cables from the solar power tower, into the AllSpark fragment. The fragment converted the electricity into AllSpark energy, which was pumped through the CR chamber and into Jazz's body.

After about a minute, Wheeljack flipped the switch off and everyone waited. It was silent enough to hear a pin drop. Then the air was shattered by a scream across every sound frequency audible to Cybertronians.

"Get him out of there!" Ratchet shouted. "He's still operating on stimuli from his last seconds before off-lining!" Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Hoist leapt forward and yanked the door of the CR chamber open. They yanked the restraints off, but before they could start working on Jazz, he had leapt onto Ratchet's back and had his cannon to the medic's head.

"I can take you down even in two pieces, bit…" Jazz trailed off from shouting. "Uh, hi, Ratchet. Wheeljack, Hoist, when did you guys get here?"

"A couple of weeks ago," Wheeljack said nonchalantly, as if Jazz was not standing atop the fuming Autobot CMO.

"Get off of me, and we can explain what happened," Ratchet said in a clipped tone. He really wanted to throw Jazz across the room, but he had to cut the saboteur some slack because of the situation. "Everyone will want to see you, so we had better get this debriefing done quickly."

* * *

"Thanks for agreeing to go home, Ironhide," William Lennox said as he sat in the driver's seat of the Autobot truck. "I know you wanted to talk to Jazz."

"There will be plenty of time for that later, Lennox. Now that Jazz is back, it would not surprise me if he lived another few thousand years, so we can spend time together later. Your time with your family is short enough without me keeping you at the base unnecessarily," Ironhide replied.

"Thanks. Hey! Did you just say 'another few thousand years'?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You mean that you guys are already over a thaousand years old?"

"Yes. Over ten thousand, in fact."

"Whoa. That's a lot to take in," Lennox said as he stared blankly out the windshield. They were traveling on the road parallel to the outside of the base fence, but Ironhide suddenly swerved off the road and plowed through the fence. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry!" Lennox yelped.

"Shut up for a moment, Lennox. The desert patrol vehicle that was affected by the AllSpark has just awakened, but it was in the middle of a patrol. Its occupants are in imminent danger." Ironhide came to a sudden halt at the top of a dune, where he and Lennox could see the transformed DPV charging at two former S7 troopers, who were firing their cryogenic cannon as fast as they could. Ironhide popped the driver side door open. "Out. Now."

"Roger," Will said as he dove out of the Autobot and found cover behind some scrub bushes. Ironhide took off down the dune and transformed as he went, arriving at the troopers just as they ran out of ammo. The DPV resumed it's charge right into Ironhide's fist, dropping the stunned youngling on it's back.

"Here are the ground rules, young one: We don't hurt humans and we don't attack other Autobots. Got it?" Ironhide growled down at the other Cybertronian.

"Affirmative," It replied, speaking coherently for the first time.

"Do you have a designation?" Ironhide asked as he offered his hand to the youngling and pulled him off the ground.

"Negative."

"Hmph. Well, those claws on your hands remind me of an old comrade of mine. How do you like the name 'Landmine'?"

"Acceptable."

* * *

"Keller!" Secretary of State Candace Miller shouted as she stormed into his office. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Candace, I have no idea what you're talking about," Keller replied.

"One of your damn jets flew over a pro-reform rally in Minsk. The Belarusans have taken it as evidence that the reformers are in our pockets and rounded up all the movement's leaders. Months, if not years, of work have just been flushed down the toilet!"

"I thought the Belarusan reform movement was in the State Department's pocket," Keller obfuscated.

"That's not the point! The point is that your stupid local commander sent one of his Raptors to buzz a demonstration in foreign country and violated their airspace."

"Hold on, did you say Raptor?"

"Yes, I did. As in one of your ungodly expensive F/A-22 stealth monstrosities," Candace fumed.

"Candace, we haven't deployed any F-22s outside of the continental United States yet."

"Oh. Than what the hell overflew Minsk?"

"Starscream."

"Star-what?"

"Starscream is a Decepticon that chose an F-22 for his disguise. He was the only Decepticon to survive the Mission City battle relatively unhurt."

"Oh great! So now, not only do I have to worry about other countries messing with our foreign policy, I have to worry about aliens, too! Thanks a lot, John."

"Candace, I think you're missing the point here."

"And what would that be?"

"Decepticons think of humans as bugs. Why would Starscream bother to interfere in our politics?" Keller asked. Secretary of State Miller had no answer for that.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. I am only borrowing it.

**Bold** = Cybertronian

_Italics_ = Radio Transmission

* * *

"**The power drain has returned to normal**," Stockade commented to Barricade as they watched the Autobot base.

"**Yes. And there's one more spark signature than before**," Barricade pointed out in reply. "**Either they have a space bridge in there, or they've found a way to create new sparks without the AllSpark. Either way, I have to get a closer look. Stay here**." Stockade replied his assent and Barricade made a slow, meandering approach towards the base. He was close enough to detect that the new spark and the three that were present when it was created had moved into the main area of the base. From the noise being generated, the new spark was unexpected and welcome. Barricade transformed, hopped the base's perimeter fence, and got several dozen meters towards the medical wing of the base when he stopped dead and spun around. A white Jaguar XF pulled to a stop next to the perimeter fence and suddenly blinked out of sight.

"**I was getting impatient, Barricade. You certainly took long enough to make your move, after all. But now that I see you standing here, the wait was well worth it,**" a disembodied voice said. Barricade dropped back to a fighting stance and activated his gyro-flails. Then the ground in front of him exploded in a shower of dirt.

"**Don't make a move, Decepti-creep**," another voice said. Barricade looked for the source and found, on the other side of the fence, a red Autobot (of the same frame model as Bumblebee) pointing a shoulder-mounted cannon as big as Ironhide's cannons at Barricade's head. "**Power down the flails and put your hands up.**" Barricade did as ordered just as a white and navy blue Autobot blinked into sight behind him, once again, with a gun pointed at him.

"**Before you shoot me, there's something you might like to see,"** Barricade said smugly as compartment in his chest popped open. A metal ball popped out and dropped to the ground. It was adorned with a single blue optic, a digital timer counting down in Cybertronian numerals, and quite a lot of explosives. The red Autobot pointed his cannon at it, but hesitated from shooting the bomb when he noticed that it was giving off an Autobot spark signature.

"**For the love of Primus, don't shoot!**" the bomb shrieked.

* * *

"Jazz!" Bumblebee shouted in surprise as the resurrected Autobot walked into the rec room. "I can't believe they actually did it." Bumblebee ran over and gave the other Autobot a big hug. All the other Autobots heard the commotion and came from across the base to see what was going on. Each one in turn expressed how good it was to have Jazz back and patted him on the back or shook his hand.

"So, what was it like, being dead?" Bluestreak finally asked the question everyone had been avoiding. The room dropped silent.

"Well," Jazz started hesitantly. "I can't really remember. I got a sense of calm, and peace, and everything being cool, but I can't give you specifics. I know I wanna go back someday, but it looks like I've got stuff to do here, first." Everyone nodded somberly.

"DECEPTICON ON THE BASE!" Red Alert suddenly shouted as his remote sensors informed him of the intrusion, despite his having left his monitoring room. "That way!" he pointed toward the medical wing and ran outside. Optimus Prime, Trailbreaker, Ultra Magnus, Jazz, and Bumblebee followed closely behind. Sam and Mikaela, who were visiting with Bumblebee, peeked outside but didn't get in the way.

"**For the love of Primus, don't shoot!**" the bomb shrieked.

"**Surprise,**" Barricade snickered. "**Guess who's strapped to the bomb?**"

"Barricade! What is the meaning of this?" Optimus demanded.

"This, Prime, is what the humans would colloquially call my 'get-out-of-jail free card'. If I'm not at least ten miles from here in just over 15 of the humans' minutes, the bomb attached to that spark sustainer unit will blow up and you'll never know just who I had hostage," Barricade said with a sadistic smile. "Oh, it will also blow if anything happens to me or you try to tamper with it before the time's up. So, are you going to let me go? Clock's ticking."

"Stand down," Optimus said angrily and all of the Autobots present lowered their weapons. Everyone except the newly-arrived red Autobot.

"You can't be serious!" he shouted. "I've got this fragger dead-to-rights, Optimus."

"I said stand down, Cliffjumper!" Optimus barked. The Cliffjumper lowered his gun, but scowled in Barricade's direction.

"Always a pleasure, Autoscum!" Barricade said to Cliffjumper with a grin as he charged over the fence, transformed, and sped away.

"Let me follow him, Prime," the recently-arrived white Autobot volunteered. "He won't detect my presence."

"No, Mirage, it's too dangerous. We cannot risk this spark, no matter who it is, and there's no telling what traps Barricade could have planned for followers," Optimus explained.

"Ah. I see your point, Prime," Mirage said before sliding to the back of the crowd.

"_Ratchet, we need you out here,_" Optimus radioed. Ratchet charged out immediately and came over to the booby-trapped spark casing. He gave a it thorough scan before making his prognosis.

"It's an extremely basic emergency spark-sustainer module. It's got a spark casing, short-term memory unit, optic, audio sensor, and vocal unit. But it's meant to be plugged into an external power source, so it's barely got enough energy to last until Barricade's time limit," Ratchet said. "I won't dare touch it until the time's up, but I need a path cleared to my med bay right now." Everyone present, which by that point had increased to just about the base's entire Autobot population, stepped aside to make Ratchet's requested path lest they incur his wrath.

"Can we at least ask who it is?" Bluestreak asked.

"That shouldn't do any harm," Ratchet admitted.

"**Um, hi. Who are you?**" Bluestreak asked the ball.

"**Covert-reconnaissance-of-friendly-territory.**" The ball replied.

"It's Prowl," Bluestreak whispered in awe.


End file.
